2020 – a big test of human and digital boundaries

- rewiring and reconnecting coming up

The end of the year is closing in. And even though it sometimes has felt like the end of the world is closing in – thankfully it is not.

Covid-19 really took its toll in Europe from the beginning of March. Nine months has past – and where have that left us?

Well – from our conversations and remote sessions with leaders throughout the world it is quite clear, that the majority of enterprises have been focused on cost-cutting and survival. Sales has gone down, profit diminishing, jobs have been lost. And many have been forced to look to the governments for compensation. Not an ideal situation to say the least for more long-term development.

Not everything has been bad

It has not entirely been all bad. In some ways the pandemic also inspired us all to give the normal way to work and meet a much needed shake-up. Suddenly we are all on Teams, we are becoming Zoomers (not boomers). And enterprises that already were already on the forefront in the digital area has also experienced good times.

The virtual connectivity has gone up. We are using Mural and Miro and Jamboard. LinkedIn has been flooded with questions, ideas and inspiration on how to facilitate online sessions (and in Denmark the traditional Christmas Lunches now start to be carried out on Zoom or Teams).

We in Trivium have also done experiments with remote and online sessions during this strange year. And again – we must say – it is not all bad. In fact it can actually help and create positive things. But it also has its limits.

Where does it work?

From our perspective online sessions can be quite good when it comes to updates & reviews on projects or assignment. It is quite effectful in summing up where a given project is. And then to assign tasks to be carried in order to keep momentum.

We have also experienced that when it comes to small group problem solving, development & iterations, it is also quite beneficial to do online sessions.

But..

When it comes to larger scale strategy development, team identity and development, organizational development and synchronization – then something is missing. We need to be closer and more connected if we are to develop and construct deeper lying changes.

In our view creativity and ideation is suffering when we are only connected virtually. We cannot create the same type of bonding & connecting when we are not together in real life.

We are looking forward to 2021 – where re-wiring and re-connecting will be on top of the Strategy Agenda.