Denial is not the Defense

“The Management Committee (MC) has decided that, starting tomorrow, helpers (Maids, Car Washers, Drivers, Caretakers) will NOT be allowed in the housing society premises. This step has been taken to support the Government initiative….”  read a notice in our society whatsapp group. For an hour, I was arguing with my father-in-law (who also happens to be in the MC) and my wife, of how this will not work! We have 2 full-time nannies for our kids and 2 maids for cooking and cleaning the two apartments we own. I argued about how it would be so difficult to do our office work if all of this ecosystem disappears. 

Tired of arguing with me, my wife retorted – “you are behaving like few of our skeptical customers, who are hesitant and in denial about Virtual Trainings or Virtual Assessments.” Honestly, that made for a good laugh, but it also made me realize that I was fighting a losing battle. I made peace with the new reality. We quickly charted out a plan – cooking was with the wife and my sister, house cleaning & utensils were with me and the kids, clothes with my father-in-law. All of this needed to be done starting 6 pm in the evening to 9:00 am in the morning before our office meetings (virtual of course) started. 

After executing this plan for a couple of days, I realized this was not as hard as I thought it would be! I have never imagined our life without the help and the driver ecosystem. But the trick was acceptance, and not denial. 

Even in the office, there were a few acceptance issues. Obviously most sales teams across the globe, including ours, are panicking about this and next month’s sales forecasts! However, few others were fast to accept the situation and increased their focus on selling virtually. And what a coincidence, this situation has actually enabled them to sell virtual training and assessment offerings virtually  

This adversity also brings with it, the focus to find an opportunity! The trick at work is going to be accepting this new way of working and learning. The lockdown scenarios and work from home seem to last longer. It may take at least 3 months (give or take) to even start feeling like we have returned to the old normal. And post COVID-19, with the unprecedented recession to follow, the world will never be the same again. It’s a refresh button! 

These are unprecedented times even for your Managers. We run a couple of open programs (virtually) that could help your managers see through these unprecedented times.

• Leading Virtually everything – this program covers:
  Learning from the pathbreakers of virtual working, Understanding key requirements of a Virtual leader, Building mutual trust and managing stakeholders virtually, Re-establishing team norms, Being proactive with your Customers
   
• Leading in Unprecedented Situations/Crises – this program covers:
  Being Mindful (increasing acceptance and spreading positivity), Being focused (zooming in and zooming out), Being frugal (doing more with less), Being iterative (moving things and sensing opportunities), Being Human (Increasing Psychological Stamina)

We as a human race have a lot to lose and a lot to prove. Here’s a chance to put a refresh button to a lot of things that were taken for granted! A chance to revisit the assumptions that certain things work this way or that way! Accept, refresh and rewire – there will be enough opportunities in this crisis. DENIAL is not the DEFENSE!

We all will emerge stronger!

To discover our talent assessment & development solutions email us at hello@jombay.com or call us on +91 96733 10011