International Teams & Covid-19 – an unmanageable hurdle?

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The Covid-19 pandemic influenced not just our private life but also drastically changed daily business life. Working remotely has been supported by different governments worldwide and online meetings are occupying the biggest part of a worker’s daily schedule. The topic of managing international teams during these difficult times has caught the attention of various institutions, like Harvard Business school. They researched solutions, how team leaders can support their employees and maintain an efficient and comfortable working atmosphere online.

The company needs to ensure that the workers have access to the necessary technology and equipment. Furthermore, in an international environment it is important to set a clear structure within the team, as well as support internal communication and include your employees with the aim of reaching an efficient task interaction. Missing out on the daily walk to the coffee machine in the office while chatting to co-workers, the manager can for example create a virtual team room where they can exchange experiences. With a few adjustments, a stable base for working remotely is set - and combined with the right motivation of the employees, managers can overcome the burdens of working online.


Comments

  1. IMSADE212227 April 2022 at 01:40

    The problem shown in this blog, has very current relevance. Many people suffer from depression, social anxiety, or neurosis after a 2-year pandemic. The isolation from society has made it difficult to interact at work, school, or privately. Most of the organization switched to remote work mode, where you could only see people on webcams or not at all. Relationships between people cooled and the speed of making new friends declined. Some people starting work during the COVID-19 pandemic had never seen their workmates, so now that the restrictions have lessened and they can see each other in the offices, many people are acting as if they never knew each other before.

    More and more companies are moving to hybrid mode or going back to desktop because of the obstructed processes and because of their employees who are longing to see their workmates, drink coffee together, go out to lunch, or have a cigarette together outside the office.

    I appreciate that the authors of this blog have addressed this issue because I think it is now one of the key issues that need attention in international team management. Isolation has caused alienation of people which can lead to resentment with foreigners in the same team, which leads to various conflicts. Managers should focus on combating resentment and strengthening bonds within teams.

    Possible solutions include shared lunches, going outside the office, conferences and other possible meetings with proper sanitation.

    ReplyDelete

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