Culture in a Post COVID World

As part of the https://www.womensinspirenetwork.com, I gave a talk at the WIN Global 2020 conference on Culture in a post COVID world. I discussed how three Dynamics of the workplace - Power/Influence, Social and Creative - and how these are impacted by WFH and the hybrid workforce. Now more than ever, as I note in my previous blog post - https://www.organisationdynamics.ie/blog/organisation-culture-in-a-post-covid-19-world - culture matters and Leaders need to be deliberate in their thinking and lead from the front.

Of the three themes, the starting point is the Social Dynamic. At our most basic we are tribal, and we congregate together at work, in clubs, at a church to give ourselves a sense of belonging. Organisations can easily underestimate the impact that the lack of the social dynamic has on people - we miss it when we are not at work; but now we are also missing it with family, friends and community.

The lack of the social dynamic plays into the creative moments happen both formally and informally when we are together. As I outlined in my previous blog post -https://www.organisationdynamics.ie/blog/organisation-culture-in-a-post-covid-19-world - Chance favours the connected mind. When we don’t have the opportunity for these connections, we reduce our overall creativity.

Equally, the lowered social dynamic reduces the ability to influence - the power dynamic. The ability to influence others is a key element of how we get things done at work and this, in turn, influences the likelihood of achieving - or not - our goals.

Why is this important? As we move into an era of the distributed workforce - where our teams operate in multiple locations - organisations need to evolve their culture, style and leadership skillsets.