At the end of June, we held a thematic discussion at LvBS called “Business opportunities and new rules of the game”, during which we had a chance to talk about the new business normality and the skills we acquired in the times of the pandemic. This event was held in partnership with the platform for women’s economic empowerment called SheExports.
During this meeting, which was very heart-warming, we talked a lot about restoring work balance in teams and hybrid approaches towards running a business, as well as discussed some conclusions drawn from the companies’ experience of going online and the issue of adaptability to changes in the business environment.
The meeting lasted for almost two hours, during which our expert guests shared their experience and thoughts on the new business reality. We gathered a genuine expert board:
Yaryna Boichuk — Lviv Business School of Ukrainian Catholic University CEO.
Nataliia Mykolska — visionary, co-founder of the platform for women’s economic empowerment called SheExports, and independent member of the Supervisory Board of the public company “Ukrhydroenerho”.
Alina Tokmylenko — “Promprylad.renovatsiya” СOO.
Sofiia Vyshnevska — entrepreneur, Propertymate co-founder, and COO.
The discussion was moderated by Roksoliana Voronovska — LvBS Consulting CEO, head of the LvBS Family Business Center and Business Design Center.
We are delighted to share some insights, which were voiced during the meeting.
It is sometimes bad to think a lot. One should not be afraid to move forward: while you think something over and over again, someone is already implementing it.
Consulting and strategic transformation are the best solutions for companies in times of crisis.
In Ukraine, people are afraid to make and admit mistakes. This leads to subsidence in the business, and we should do something about it.
Now, we have more than ever before felt that we belong to the ecosystem (either at work or home). We understood who belongs there and what place each person has.
If you want to live a bright life in the global world, it is no longer necessary for you to live in the capital. The scales have shifted towards local: companies, communities, and places of residence.
The new reality is about acceleration and transformation. We became more sensitive to human aspects and felt that we are all in the same boat.
The importance of saying “thank you” to yourself, your partner, and your team is higher than ever.
The mixed training mode removed limitations (first of all, concerning location), which had previously hindered the quality of the educational process. And in the nearest future, there is a high chance that offline mode will be a true luxury.
The shift towards online mode went more difficult for women than for men. One should take into account that many have experienced emotional overload and try to help them to relax.
It is not a shame to ask for help, especially in a women’s society. We need to create a culture of mutual help.
The best we can learn from the COVID crisis includes:
- speed and asymmetry of decisions;
- importance of high-quality communication;
- necessity of building a financial cushion;
- cold attitude towards mistakes.
We start looking at the time resource from a different perspective: why should we spend hours to commute, if we can spend them for our benefit and work remotely or not far from our office.
