<< Back

The End is Near—And That’s a Good Thing!

As we begin to imagine the end of the pandemic, we dare to think about what it may bring. We will be able to visit friends, family, and colleagues we have not seen for a year. We will be able to engage the world in ways that have not been open to many of us—travel, live events, dining. We will finally be able to experience a profound sense of relief that leaving the house is not putting our lives at risk.

 

As we contemplate the end, however, let’s take a moment to ask ourselves, “What kind of a world are we returning to?”

 

As project managers, we will see a wide range of factors that impact our profession. Most obviously, and at the deepest level, how we engage stakeholders and teams will be changed utterly. Many of us will not return to our previous situations of being co-located with the bulk of our team and stakeholders. Organizations such as Twitter and Microsoft are embracing remote only or remote first strategies. There is growing talk of hybrid work situations, with people attending work in the office several days per week and working at home the rest.

 

When we are expected to lead times and engage stakeholders who are connected primarily by zoom calls, chat, and email, who see each other only occasionally face-to-face, and who rarely have the chance for ad-hoc, impromptu conversations, our ability to develop high-performing teams that deliver value to our stakeholders faces significant challenges. At a minimum, our communication and facilitation skills will have to become even more critical to our work as project managers.

 

While it is exhilarating and heroic in the short run to shift suddenly to remote work strategies, what do team and organizational culture look like in the future? How do we sustain or change the culture if our relationships exist digitally? How do we preserve and improve practices that supported us over the last year but were rooted in different circumstances?

 

Long-term WFH solutions may leave many people feeling socially isolated and bring a range of debilitating emotional challenges. Women have faced significant challenges when working from home when also asked to provide care for their families. People who cannot afford home offices and zoom rooms face additional burdens when trying to be productive employees.  We risk placing other barriers in front of employees who were already struggling to thrive in our economy. How will we, as project managers, address these issues?

 

Another concern I have is the potential for lost creativity and innovation when people begin to talk outside of our official communication channels. While many of us, including myself, treasure the quiet time that WFH days can bring, if we are only interacting with people during meetings and through chat, we miss out on those spontaneous sparks that often ignite new ideas. If we rarely leave home, what new impressions will provoke new ways of seeing the world? 

 

I don’t pretend to have all of the answers, and a newsletter article isn’t the place to solve these problems either.  But as we gratefully and joyfully go forth to rebuild what we have lost, I hope we all take some time to contemplate the challenge before us.

 

I look forward to the chance to discuss these and many other topics related to our profession, face-to-face, very soon. I firmly believe that our long-term ability to lead, innovate, and thrive depends significantly on the relationships we build. I know that the PMI is an ideal place to nourish them. So three cheers for the end, because we can begin again soon.

 

 

Tim Bombosch

Director-at-Large, PMI-SFBAC

Search

Popular posts

View the archives

The PMI San Francisco Bay Area Chapter is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with TalentCheetah® Inc.  TalentCheetah® is an AI-powered hiring platform that connects hiring decision makers directly with experienced U.S. project, product, and program managers available for contracting and full-time employee (FTE) roles. This partnership is designed to support our chapter members’ career growth, while simultaneously helping San Francisco and surrounding bay area companies quickly fill open project and product management positions with qualified Chapter job seekers. 🚀 FOR HIRING COMPANIES: Post a Job & Source Top PM Talent the Same Day Looking to hire a project or product manager? Now you can post your open roles directly to the TalentCheetah® platform—trusted by local companies and staffed with highly specialized PM professionals available for immediate hire, many of whom are PMI-SFBAC Chapter Members. Benefits for Hiring Companies: * Same-day access to a curated network of pre-screened U.S. project and product management candidates including PMI-SFBAC Chapter Members * Free and unlimited job postings (under 5 minutes) * Flexible hiring (contracting/consulting, permanent, full-time, part-time, remote, onsite) * Direct candidate messaging + white-glove support from TalentCheetah 🔗 Click here to create an account and post your role(s) 💼 FOR PROJECT MANAGERS: Access Local Job Opportunities Instantly PMI-SFBAC job seekers get access to a real-time job board designed exclusively for project and product management roles. TalentCheetah® makes it fast and easy for you to connect directly with local hiring managers seeking PM talent. Benefits for Job Seekers: * Free access to exclusive contract and full-time employee PM roles * Personalized onboarding, custom career assessment and video interview * Direct connection to hiring decision makers—no gatekeeping * Real-time notifications when new roles are posted * Free 1X1 career coaching sessions with PM Hiring experts 🔗 Apply to Join the TalentCheetah® Network 🤝 A Strategic Career-Advancing Partnership This partnership is fully funded and managed by TalentCheetah® at no cost to PMI-SFBAC or its members.  By combining PMI-SFBAC’s network of experienced professionals with TalentCheetah’s AI technology and built-for-speed platform, we’ve created a powerful project management career engine and hiring solution for our local San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding communities.   This innovative program supports our mission to empower project managers in their career development while helping local companies achieve project delivery success with top-tier project and product management job seekers from our Chapter.     Questions?  Visit www.talentcheetah.com to learn more.  Contact TalentCheetah® Support at help@talentcheetah.com or 408-505-1353 for immediate assistance.

Podcast