Lockdown Learnings

Corona Jottings 

#IndiaFightsCorona

#IndiaIncPostCorona

#WorldFightsCorona

Ice Breaker

I have indeed been privileged to utilize some of my lock-down times for the fraternity; for this thanks are due to my old friends Dr. Chinmoy Sarkar (IIT, ISM, Ex-TCS) and Indranil Banerjee (WBSEDL). 

What was an apparently spontaneous idea found tangibility in already 8 hard hitting deliberations with stalwarts from the fraternity; encompassing the likes of Ramkumar (Ex-People Chief of ICICI), Aquil Busrai (Ex-People Chief of IBM) and Prof Arup Varma of Loyola University, Chicago. My modest thoughts for this blog are indeed inspired through the leanings through these deliberations. 

Fear Is the Key 

So, where do we stand today as the Honorable Prime Minister of the Republic of India announces a third extension of the lockdown to May 3? What is the key word doing the rounds? What do we read in the face of the Honorable Prime Minister and commoners? Why this tendency to rush to the bazaar and grab whatever we can lay our hands on? What is that key word? Yes, dear friends...its a four letter world called FEAR!

We are all scared. Big Entrepreneurs. Small Entrepreneurs and businessmen. Common citizen. Middle Class. Poor. All of us are scared. Why are we scared? We are scared for 101 reasons. We are scared of catching the virus and the predicament thereafter - the complete isolation and getting separated from our family and friends... all those unfortunate stories of incumbents running away from isolation centers. 

What else are we scared of? We are scared of not receiving our salaries and wages. We are scared of losing our jobs. We are scared of as freelancers and daily wage earners of not finding enough work in the days ahead to sustain our families. 

We are scared of banks and financial institutions refusing to make available our deposits and interests; we are scared of public utilities like electricity getting disconnected. We are scared of not getting food in the market. The list is literally endless.  

And the entrepreneurs, businessmen and shop owners are scared of losing their current markets. They are fearful that they would lose their customers in one go; some are so panic stricken that they have already started asking employees to leave.. 

Break the Infection Chain; Not the Communication Chain

In this environment of fear, there is something that we must definitely not stop. What is that? Communication. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. However, in the backdrop of fake news, let us be vigilant and deny any kind of fake news to be circulated due to our negligence and overlook. This is the time we must communicate with members of the family, particularly the older ones. The mortality rates of senior citizens have been very high and therefore they deserve our greatest attention. For the fear of isolation, they may hide health issues they may be facing; we have to be vigilant.

Our subordinates also need to reassured. Without painting a rosy picture of the future, it would do them a world of good if we strike the right balance. The world will never be the same again but that doesn't mean the world has come to an end. We have to make this learning ingrained into the system. Infact just like the fake news generators, we have to resist with all our might the doomsday churners, a whole chunk of whom originate from obscure religious beliefs. 

Our beloved friends need to be reassured. We may call them or text them in a while and make them know that we are there for them and they should not hesitate to let us know if there is need for assistance on anything. 

Our young friends and students need to be reassured. While we make them understand that bad times would be over soon but we have to get them used to new methods of learning. This is the time they have to equip themselves with technology skills because none of us have any clue when our good old classrooms can be restored, and whats more in what form!

Our frontline warriors-the doctors, nurses, ward personnel; our food delivery boys; workers and drivers of essential /food services; media personnel; policemen, para military forces, armed forces..all need to reassured and thanked; attempts to humiliate and harm them must be resisted with all our might. Local Governments consistently playing politics by siding with violators must be a taught a lesson in the next election. 

Those who believe in Parapsychology are ofcourse of the opinion that all of this was destined, so atleast the flow of events suggest. Global Warming and Natural disasters. Burning cars in Kuwait. The rise of nationalism. Nation First. The rise of global fundamentalism/terrorism. Right wing political parties emerging in most nations. The left along with the liberals losing influence on common citizens with their failure to resist terrorism and proliferation of terror philosophy. Brexit. The US-China Trade War. 

Bye Bye Miss Globalization Pie

Tehranian and other Globalization scholars have been pointing out to the contradictory outcomes of Globalization which got a fillip in 1991 post the Soviet Union breakdown. Life changed forever. Indians were traveling to the remotest of destinations during vacations. Post Corona times are signaling to a relatively insular world. Globalization won't go away but the form and nature would change altogether; in simple words, life would change again forever. Significantly, this model didn't last too long; just 30 years to be specific. Only Just. 

What is interesting is that the failure of this avatar of Globalization isn't quite making any of the old schools (Capitalists, Communists/Leftists) laugh because there ain't any victory for either! Its the Political Right which is the flavor of the season while Global Capitalism Protagonists are in dire straits at this time.    

Managing People

Managing people would be a whole new ball game post Corona. Just like in International Human Resources Management, we were told about taking greater interest in people's private lives, the same would apply now, across the board. These are going to be times of sharing and caring. 

From a thrust on employee physical health, the thrust shall hence move on to mental health. In these challenging times requiring walking the fine balance, it is important that employees don't slip into a bout of depression or on the worse, maniac conditions. Psychologists, Counselors and Psychiatrists would have a huge role to play in the days ahead. 

We are looking at designing more effective work from home models, flexible hours in general, deployment of cross functional teams for addressing tasks, flatter organizations; low fixed, high incentive compensation modes; generalist roles, multitasking etc

People deployment and engagement would render maximum scope of innovation and creativity. Watch this space.