Malin Liden, Vice President, Global Field Marketing, SAP
28 March 2020
Last week I let the dogs out in the office. In times where we must keep a distance to protect others, I’m fascinated to see how much more we learn about each other. In my SAP Digital Tribe community we started a conversation around what we miss the most, and what new ways we are discovering to stay connected. One member said that she missed her volunteering hours in the animal shelter the most, no more cuddling the cats and the dogs for a foreseeable future. I know we have a lot of pet owners in our tribe so I immediately organized a “Who let the dogs out” happy hour for the following day. We all brought a beverage suitable to our respective time zone and when everyone held their furry friends into the webcams our hearts felt a little warmer than before. It got even better when my colleague from India said his daughter hopes we will do this again because she now wants to show us all her fishes.
I would not have spent this Friday afternoon with these people if the world had looked like it did a month ago, I would not have seen their homes, their dogs, cats and daughters, and we would not have shared stories that helped us feel closer and part of a supporting and caring network.
So, I can’t help feeling that distance can bring us closer, that a crisis which seems to force us apart can unite in new ways and help humanize business.
I am observing a few interesting things:
– Lines blur between our private and professional personas: Before virtual became the new normal I would only go on webcam on conference calls if I had to, making sure I looked equally groomed as if I was going to the office. Now me and my colleagues are on web cam from our kitchens, in sports clothes or home wear, with kids or pets running around in the background. Of course, the noise can be disturbing at times but it also creates a different connection and closeness to the people we work with.
– We get more creative in crisis: I see a ton of zoom parties, virtual meet ups, and video messages, but also a change in the regular coffee chats with people that are in the same location. These are now going virtual, and expanding to include others that could not have joined if we had met in the office. Last week I also had a virtual coffee with the wonderful Elizabeth Lembke who I met when we were both presenting at a conference. We never meet in person outside of events, and before the new normal we also did not take the time to jump on a call. We had a blast and she already created this lovely visual for our now regular chats, where we will invite others for inspiring conversations.
– The virtual environment creates a more even playing field: When access to travel budgets is not determining how good your network can be, people who are used to connecting virtual, building relationships and networks online, now move from doing what’s second best to a huge advantage. People who are introverted have better opportunities to participate in exchange, those who have to work from home because they don’t live close to an office have the same chances to participate (remember a situation where you were the only one on the phone, connected with a full room of people who are all together? Not easy, not fun), and people with disabilities who may have hesitated to travel can now safely join events on the same terms as everyone else.
– Going back to “normal”? Or to a better place? I also observe people who don’t see the opportunity, they say things like “right now I can’t get on a plane”, which means that they are only waiting for things to go back to what was normal, so that they can go back to where they were before. But will the normal ever be the same? And why would we want it to?
The opportunity in crisis is a catalyst for change
We see satellite maps of pollution disappearing over China and Italy, noise levels and warming gases in cities are going down to minimum levels, we are discovering our neighbors but we also connect more frequently in more creative ways with far away friends and colleagues than we ever could even if we were constantly “getting on planes”, and we see beautiful images of clear water, swans and fish in the canals instead of masses of tourists in Venice. If a virus can make the world so much cleaner and sustainably connected, shouldn’t we be able to?
A yoga teacher friend of mine recently said that holding on to how things were in the past, wishing it would be the same again, is what causes humans the most pain. Accepting the present, using the new normal to shape a better future is our big chance. It is all about breaking free from what seems like the only way, to discover what could be. Changing habits is the hardest thing, the virus forces us to do it and I hope we choose to use it as a launchpad for a new and better world.