The COVID-19 pandemic is radically changing the way companies operate. The lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus led employees to work remotely, restricted job travel, and prioritized efficient technology and communications.

And these changes will not disappear completely after the outbreak ends, according to Rebecca Knight (pictured), journalist and host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio.

“[After the pandemic] some people will want to work from home, and I think other people will want to go someplace, even if it is not what we think of as the typical American office,” she said. “We will have to think about some ways to create different kinds of offices and WeWork type things.”

Knight spoke with Jeff Frick, host of theCUBE, about the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. They discussed how the pandemic will reshape work culture, the need for empathy and humility to face this moment, some of the few positive points of the quarantine, and the impact of the crisis on higher education.

Getting the job done from anywhere

The pandemic is destroying the myth that people can only work effectively in an office environment, according to Knight. Digital tools show that it is possible to work remotely, which will give people the opportunity to think about how and where they want to live and work.

“You have a lot more urgency and a lot more freedom to get your job done anywhere you want to live, and is that in a city? Because … we love living in cities. But, if you like living near the mountains or near the ocean, you can do that and get your job done,” Knight stated.

Despite the possibility of working from home, people still enjoy being around other people, and that’s what is making quarantine so difficult. “We are missing the camaraderie, the collegiality of the water cooler chat, and that’s where teams do a lot of problems solving,” Knight pointed out.

This need can be solved by creating offices that are different from the ones we are used to but that also allow socialization, according to Knight. “They could just be different offices all over, and they could be in the suburbs, they could be in the mountains, and they could just be a place where people come together and sometimes, they are in the same industry, field, sometimes maybe in the same company,” she explained.

Share empathy and humility with your team

Although companies were already moving toward a digital transformation before the coronavirus crisis, with businesses and operations increasingly online, no one was prepared for such an abrupt change.

“This is not quite exactly what we all had in mind when we were talking about the future of online education or the digital organization — but it’s certainly interesting to watch it all happen,” she pointed out.

In this new environment, it is necessary to have empathy, humility and share the problems you are facing with your team, Knight added.

“Zoom fatigue is real, but, at the same time, you do need to make time to talk to your team and … make sure that people are doing okay,” she said. “Talk about the challenges you are facing too. Your team needs to know that you aren’t superhuman; you are a human too [and] you are going through this just like they are.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations on the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Photo: SiliconANGLE