The Covid-19 pandemic is a massive disruption to global economies – and will continue to be so for a while. Returning to whatever is the ‘new normal’ will be slow and gradual.
These are stressful times, even for people who routinely “work from home”. Of course, health of yourself/family/friends is a big concern. Even if all are healthy, there are other worries. Businesses are laying off and closing down at levels not see in ~100 years. Even if your business survives, will your clients? Will you still have a job? Are you dealing with children suddenly home with no childcare / schools / universities – and often, no playing outside for weeks.
This is an inflection point for society. The business landscape “after” covid-19 will be different. What you did before may no longer apply. At the same time, things that were impossible before may now suddenly be possible.
If you are experienced working in physically distributed teams, you have a skill that many others suddenly need. Badly.
Learn how you can “do the most good for the most people”. While also learning new skills, helping revive your local economy and maybe, just maybe, finding new opportunities or new career focus as we emerge from this pandemic.
Author, Senior Strategist
About
John O’Duinn is a computer guy who has written code and led teams in companies ranging from four person startups to non-profits to multinationals – including in the US Government as part of the U.S. Digital Service in the Obama White House.
John has worked in distributed companies of one form or another for 27 years, led distributed teams for 14 years, run workshops and mentored distributed companies for 6 years.
John wrote “Distributed Teams: The Art and Practice of Working Together While Physically Apart” as a practical, easy-to-read, management book.
John also helped write the State of Vermont’s “Remote Worker” law – a very different approach to Economic Development - which was so wildly successful that John is now helping write policies for multiple other jurisdictions world-wide.
So far, John has lived and worked in 13 cities across four continents.
