Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Forging a New Future: Post-Pandemic Transition Tips

20/05/2020

By Saydeah Howard

Over the past two months all of us have seen our personal and professional lives dramatically upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. My conversations with portfolio companies confirm that as the crisis has evolved, we've all been thrust into similarly uncharted territory. First there was the transition from shock to acceptance with the realization that yes, this is real, and we need to respond. Those first few weeks in mid-March were focused on employees were they safe? Did they have the resources they needed to work remotely? Could companies find ways to maintain connections amongst a dispersed workforce? Ultimately, what we found was heartening: even those companies who initially found themselves completely in the dark managed to adapt with relative speed.

Then came the initial stimulus package, and the focus shifted to the viability of accessing those funds and evaluating the impact they could have on a given organization. Now, post-stimulus, we find ourselves assessing what it means to return to work, even if returning to normal might not yet be possible. Instead, we'll be forging a new future, which may mean fundamentally changing our lives in order to work and live in this new world. As I share my findings with you now I am thankful to do so from a stronger position than where we were in March. We now have the luxury of time and a little foresight, so let's do what we previously could not. As we prepare to chart a new path to physical offices, let us be intentional as we plan, prepare, and get ahead of this as much as possible.

First, know that there will be different reactions when local and state shelter-in-place mandates are lifted. Whether this excites or perturbs you, recognize that others may not share your feelings, whatever they may be. Some people will be excited to simply leave the house again and they will immediately want to return to life as it once was. They will want to work in a physical office, eat in restaurants, shop in stores, and generally be among others. These are the people for whom this period has been challenging in many unexpected ways, not just the social disconnection of not seeing friends and family, but also the added frustration of trying to parent and work at the same time. Add to that the mental exhaustion of all this instability, along with the anxiety of possibly contracting a life-threatening virus. This is the first in group, the first ones back in the office, wondering where everyone else is and eager to engage in as many past social norms as possible. In practice, this will likely mean in-person team gatherings, socially distanced group lunches, and in-person chats, with or without a mask.

On the other side of the spectrum is the last back group: those that still don't want to leave the house, even if the shelter-in-place mandates in their area have been lifted. They will want to continue working remotely for a variety of reasons, including continued fear of the virus or the simple fact that they enjoy working from home. During this period many people have gone beyond making the best of things they've created a home environment that is not only productive but pleasant. They feel they have everything they need and are not eager to go back to their commutes, their office lives, or generally disrupt the new work-life balance they've achieved. They want to hold onto a world where everyone has the freedom to work where they want, when they want, as long as productivity is maintained.

Lastly, as you may expect, there will be many people in the middle. This bit of both group will want to be back in a physical office occasionally, but still desire the flexibility to work from home when needed. They have seen that they can be productive outside of the office, but don't necessarily want to commit to working remotely full time.

To address these three different perspectives, companies must remain flexible and recognize that there is no single solution. When planning company meetings or gatherings, it will be necessary to adjust various policies while considering the first in, last back, and bit of both groups.

When onboarding new employees, don't assume that they fall into one group. Ask them how they prefer to work and be clear with them upfront about how the organization will address their particular situation. Not all roles can be performed remotely, and not all individuals work well in remote environments, so take the time to determine what will work for the job and the person. For day-to-day logistics, create materials that can be shared both physically and electronically. Adjust your company rituals as needed to be able to meet the needs of all three groups. If you've fully transitioned to remote in the past few months, you may have to take some time to think about what a new middle ground will look like.

Company events will have to evolve to include both in-person and remote participants. From company meetings where information is disseminated, to social gatherings designed to increase engagement and camaraderie, think of various ways to include everyone. Regardless of how they are participating in the event, on site or via technology, every member of your team should feel involved in what's happening. Innovate to find methods of making everyone at the company feel like a part of the team.

Remember, this is a new beginning. Take the opportunity to create something new, rather than just adjusting past behaviors. The silver lining of all this difficulty is the freedom to redesign your work culture from the ground up. In doing so you will discover approaches to work and life you never considered before.

Saydeah Howard is the Chief Talent Officer at IVP, a later-stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, CA.

Find more resources at ivp.com
LINK: https://www.ivp.com/news/blog/forging-a-new-future-post-pandemic-trans...
See more stories from ivp

More from IVP

21/02/2023

Scaling Your Product Organization

Part 1: Hiring Scaling a business for long-term success is hard - and so is finding the guidance, insight and lessons learned by those who have done it successf...

11/01/2023

DeepL: A step change in AI-powered language translation

By Eric Liaw, Karthik Ramakrishnan, Ajay Vashee and Albert Zhang, on behalf of IVP As our world becomes more interconnected, demand for high-quality language t...

02/11/2022

Roam, The Future of Remote Work

By Jules Maltz, Dennis Phelps and Shreyas Garg The shift to remote work and a geographically dispersed workforce has given companies and employees greater flex...

18/10/2022

Jasper: This Blog Post (Mostly) Wrote Itself

By Karthik Ramakrishnan, Jules Maltz, Ajay Vashee, Michael Miao and Joanne Shang, with help from Jasper.ai Every day, billions of people start their workdays t...

29/09/2022

Pigment: The true colors of next-gen business planning

By: Ajay Vashee, Somesh Dash, Michael Miao, James Black Business growth is often a function of planning and forecasting - financial, resource, product, sales, ...

15/08/2022

IVP in the Wall Street Journal: Navigating Tech Hiring

After a period of record growth, the tech sector's hiring spree seems to be coming to a close. Rising inflation and slowing demand for tech products are lea...

29/07/2022

7 Ways Founders Lead in Uncertain Times

By Somesh Dash The bear market is roiling venture capital, but the people feeling the most pressure nowadays are founders and CEOs seeing their terms change, v...

29/07/2022

Why I stopped writing, and how I found my voice again

By Cack Wilhelm Writing my way made me a better investor and partner to founders Writing, like running, is often used as an example of operating in a flow sta...

28/07/2022

BreakLine Education and IVP Team Up to Advance High Performing Talent in High Growth Companies

We are thrilled to announce a first-of-its-kind partnership between BreakLine Ed...

06/06/2022

Why you should pledge 1%

IVP recently convened a virtual roundtable of founders and CEOs to learn more about Pledge 1% and consider joining the thousands of companies that have already ...

24/05/2022

The Data Doesn't Lie: Monte Carlo and the Future of Data Observability

By Jason Kong, Cack Wilhelm, Karthik Ramakrishnan, Somesh Dash, and Tom Loverro We're thrilled to announce our investment in data observability company Mo...

03/05/2022

Traceable AI: A Revolutionary Approach to API security

By: Steve Harrick, Somesh Dash, Michael Miao, and Shreyas Garg Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are at the forefront of software communication, workin...

19/04/2022

SEON: Kicking Fraud's Butt

By Michael Miao, Karthik Ramakrishnan, Jules Maltz, and Eric Liaw Cat and Mouse The cartoon classic Tom and Jerry tells the story of two lifelong adversari...

18/04/2022

Clipboard Health: Doing Well by Doing Good

By: Louisa Xu, Army Tunjaicon, Jules Maltz, and Tom Loverro Not many founders dedicate their lives to lifting people up the socioeconomic ladder. Wei Deng i...

14/04/2022

Obsidian and an Industry Shift

By Somesh Dash, Joanne Shang, Shreyas Garg and Cack Wilhelm IVP is proud to announce our investment in Obsidian Security, the first truly comprehensive securi...

08/03/2022

IVP stands with Ukraine

We have been shocked to witness the Russian government's horrific invasion of Ukraine unfold. At IVP, we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and condemn Russia...

14/02/2022

Inspirato: Reimagining Luxury Travel

By Todd Chaffee Today we are honored to congratulate CEO Brent Handler, President David Kallery, and the entire team at Inspirato on a successful public listi...

07/02/2022

The Starting Line

A post by Cack Wilhelm There is a Silicon Valley maxim often shared with entrepreneurs entering their public debut: the IPO is not the conclusion. It is the st...

07/02/2022

IVP Promotes Cack Wilhelm to General Partner

Menlo Park, CA - February 7, 2022 IVP, a seasoned, trusted, and understated partner for many of the technology industry's fastest-growing companies, is p...

22/12/2021

Cack Wilhelm Named on the GrowthCap's Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2021 List

Menlo Park, CA December 22, 2021 IVP is pleased to announce that Cack Wilhel...

16/12/2021

IVP 2021 in Review - Breakout Performance with 15 IPOs and $1.8 Billion Fund to Serve Hypergrowth Companies

Menlo Park, CA - December 16, 2021 - IVP shared a summary of key milestones for ...

16/12/2021

Found raises $100M in Series B funding led by WestCap

In addition to new funding, Found welcomes Chief Medical Officer and Chief Behavioral Health Officer San Francisco, CA December 16, 2021 Found, the modern ...

16/12/2021

Found: It's not just about what you lose, it's about what you find

By Jules Maltz, Joanne Shang, and Eric Liaw IVP is excited to announce our investment in Found, a digital-first weight care management company. At IVP, we are ...

14/12/2021

IVP's Hypergrowth Stories: How Attentive Changed the Conversation Between Companies and Customers

In IVP's Hypergrowth Stories series, CEOs of the fastest-growing companies s...

09/12/2021

HashiCorp: The Dawn of HCP

By Tom Loverro, Sandy Miller, Steve Harrick, and Michael Miao Congratulations to HashiCorp CEO Dave McJannet and founders Mitchell Hashimoto and Armon Dadgar a...

18/11/2021

Grammarly Reaches $13B Valuation With New Funding Round to Accelerate Communication Assistance Market Leadership

$200M round, including new investors Baillie Gifford and funds and accounts man...

16/11/2021

H1 Raises $100M Series C to Expand Footprint, Make H1 the Central Healthcare Professional Data Network for Global Healthcare Community

Led by new investor Altimeter Capital, round will help H1 increase velocity of g...

16/11/2021

IVP's Hypergrowth Story: How Amplitude Became the #1 Product Analytics Company and Will Optimize Digital Business

In IVP's Hypergrowth Stories series, CEOs of the fastest-growing companies s...

16/11/2021

IVP's Hypergrowth Stories: How Amplitude Became the #1 Product Analytics Company and Will Optimize Digital Business

In IVP's Hypergrowth Stories series, CEOs of the fastest-growing companies s...

15/11/2021

Podium Raises $201M in Series D Funding to Accelerate the Digital Evolution for Local Businesses

Additional Funding to be Invested Towards Future Growth and Innovation to Suppor...

11/11/2021

From #lovelulus to LVLU Lulus Goes Public!

By Jason Kong, Eric Liaw and Jules Maltz Today we are honored to congratulate the fashionable and amazing team at Lulus on a successful IPO. This marks the 129...

08/11/2021

Nextdoor: The Neighborhood Network

By Jules Maltz Today, we're honored to congratulate Sarah Friar and the entire team at Nextdoor on its successful public listing. Neighbors rely on Nextdoo...

04/11/2021

Yellowbrick Data Raises $75M in Series C1, Sees Adoption of Its Cloud Data Warehouse Accelerating

Yellowbrick adds investment as it attracts host of new enterprise customers to t...

04/11/2021

NerdWallet: Financial Empowerment? Turn to the Nerds

By Tom Loverro, Jules Maltz, Eric Liaw and Cack Wilhelm We're thrilled to congratulate Co-Founder & CEO, Tim Chen and Co-Founder, Jake Gibson, and the ent...

25/10/2021

IVP's Hypergrowth Stories: How Grammarly Got to 30 Million Daily Active Users

In IVP's Hypergrowth Stories series, CEOs of the fastest-growing companies s...

21/10/2021

FTX Trading Ltd. Closes $420 Million Series B-1 Funding Round

This Financing Round Raises the Company's Valuation to $25 Billion Nassau, Bahamas Oct. 21, 2021 FTX Trading Ltd. ( FTX or the Company ), owner and o...

19/10/2021

Aiven Achieves $2B Unicorn Valuation with its Series C Extension

Aiven's existing investors increase capital investment to double down the company's exponential growth and global open source innovation Helsinki, Finl...

14/10/2021

Tala Raises $145 Million Series E to Become Largest Financial Platform for the Global Underbanked

The round will fuel the rollout of new mobile-first account services and crypto ...

07/10/2021

Ajaib: Democratizing Investments in Southeast Asia

By Army Tunjaicon, Cack Wilhelm, Eric Liaw, Jules Maltz, and Louisa Xu One of the first lessons taught in Finance 101 is the value of compounding. According to...

29/09/2021

Amplitude: Making an Increasingly Digital-First World a Better Place

By Somesh Dash, Tom Loverro, Jules Maltz and James Black Today, at IVP, we are thrilled to congratulate Spenser Skates, Curtis Liu, Jeffrey Wang and the entire...

22/09/2021

Sorare raises $680M Series B to create the next sports entertainment giant leveraging NFTs

The round is led by SoftBank, with participation from Atomico, Bessemer Ventures...

22/09/2021

Sorare: The Next Generation of Fantasy Sports

By James Black, Eric Liaw, and Tom Loverro Today, IVP is proud to announce our investment in Sorare, the leader in global fantasy football powered by NFTs. We ...

13/09/2021

Papaya Global Raises $250 Million in Series D Funding at $3.7 Billion Valuation

Announces DEI Dashboard to Support Social Responsibility Tel Aviv, Israel & New York, NY September 13, 2021 Papaya Global, the industry-leading workforce m...

01/09/2021

Checkr Raises $250 Million at $4.6 Billion Valuation to Build Hiring Infrastructure for the Future of Work

San Francisco, CA September 1, 2021 Checkr, a leading HR technology company ...

30/08/2021

WHOOP Raises $200 Million Financing Led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at $3.6 Billion Valuation

Boston, MA Aug. 30, 2021 WHOOP, the human performance company, today announc...

30/08/2021

IVP Adds Shreyas Garg and Joanne Shang as New Investors to the Team

Menlo Park, CA - August 30, 2021 - IVP, a premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firm, is pleased to announce two new additions to its investment...

25/08/2021

Cribl Raises $200M in Series C Funding on Traction with Global Enterprise Customers, Vision to Unlock Value of all Observability Data

Cribl is driving an Open Ecosystem of Data for enterprises; Flagship observabi...

25/08/2021

Cribl: Observing the Right Trend

By Cack Wilhelm, Jason Kong, Army Tunjaicon, Eric Liaw, and Tom Loverro We have just, today, announced a Series C investment in Cribl, and we are excited to sh...

12/08/2021

TaxBit Raises $130M Series B at $1.33B Valuation to Disrupt Legacy Tax Information Reporting

Dozens of financial institutions commit to real-time tax center solutions Salt ...

12/08/2021

TaxBit The Most Fun We've Ever Had Talking About Taxes

By Tom Loverro, Ajay Vashee, Eric Liaw, and James Black Today, IVP is proud to announce our investment in TaxBit, the leading tax and accounting software provi...