The insights COVID gave me about working together

The current pandemic offers valuable insights into what it means to work together – and really just be alive.  COIVD requires that we work together in different ways – oftentimes moving from in-person to electronic communications. 

What was your experience of COVID like as an individual?  A professional? A team? 

Messing with our behavioral norms exposes that which was just there unnoticed.  Some philosophers wonder, does a fish know it’s in water? 

Sometimes losing the things we just assumed makes one understand what they love.  I love being with people.  I realized that keeping six feet away made me feel emotionally distant, too. I noticed that facial expressions carry a lot of meaning – and people’s mere expressions led me to feel empathetic toward them.  I didn’t even know I had much empathy until it wasn’t evoked!  Oddly, all this loss of interpersonal relationship contact led me to realize how much I really do like the people I work with and the clients we serve.  I always assumed I needed a way to feed myself.  Who knew that these folks also brought so much meaning to my ordinary existence?  The reduced intensity with my coworkers and clients led me to a renewed sense of gratitude. 

As a professional, my job is to lead and manage to achieve results for our clients.  Really, that’s everyone’s job at GL Solutions.  As a leader, the pandemic requires a bit more acceptance of the way things are.  Normally, I like to charge ahead and get things done.  Now the people and clients I work with are frequently experiencing some disturbance and stress.  They really aren’t in a position to accept that extra drive to the next goal.   Parents are unexpectedly homeschooling.  People get anxious from the news and about their health.  They are all navigating new ways to work with others.  It’s a lot to take in. 

COVID has taught me that there are times when what we are doing already is enough, even when I might prefer we do more. 

Finally, COVID creates a new need for teambuilding. Teambuilding is always essential.  In the days of remote working and social distancing, communicating a very few set of clear goals is critical.  Your channels of communication are limited.  People are anxious and busy.  You’ve only got a limited amount of attention span to work with.  Getting the message down to a few words increases the odds that we will feel like a team working toward common goals. 

What about you? 

Has COVID given you new individual, professional and personal insights?  Have you found things that you might want to stop, start or continue after the pandemic?  Have you gained new insights into the water you swim in?

Bill Moseley
CEO GL Solutions