2020 will be a year that we would all like to forget in a hurry. Corona Virus, Social Distancing, Lockdowns, Work-From-Home, Sanitizers and Masks dominated our life throughout the year. This was perhaps one of the biggest challenges that humankind faced in last hundred years, and most of us were ill prepared for the same. The Covid-19 Pandemic has already killed close to nineteen lakh people across the globe. The economic losses are pegged at $13 trillion and many industries are yet to come back into full scale business.
Yet we survived. Of course, this was through readjustments, reorganization and reworking of the business strategies. Business transactions moved online and employees started working from home. The dependence on internet and technology has increased to large extent. People who were not tech-savvy found themselves out of work. On the other hand, people who quickly adapted and aligned themselves with technological processes survived and moved ahead despite the crisis.
This brings us to the moot-point of the management skills that will be in much demand during the year of 2021. Here, we are highlighting five key factors that are considered to be must haves for the managers working in different industries:
1. Learning Agility:
We currently live in the VUCA World. VUCA stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. With different strains of virus and airborne diseases making attacks on all fronts, we would need to change business models and business processes quite often. So, it is not only important for business managers that they upgrade themselves and learn new skills, it is also equally important that they learn the skills pretty fast. And the managers who are agile and can learn and adopt fast to changing scenario are the ones who will survive and succeed in the long run.
2. Flexibility:
The Covid-19 Crisis forced us to reorganize ourselves and many employees had to do Work-From-Home (WFH). This meant working at odd hours, working on weekends and managing family issues along with work related challenges. Employees who have been flexible and adaptive have been able to workout a perfect balance and deliver high degree of productivity vis-à-vis the ones who could not adapt. Flexibility will be a key skill that will be in high demand in 2021 also.
3. Data Driven Decision Making
We have already entered the era of big data. Big Data is characterized by high volume, high velocity and high variety of data that is being produced and is accessible to us. We are currently producing 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. Quintillion has got eighteen zeros. And we need skills to sort, tabulate and analyse this huge quantum of data to draw out incisive inferences. For that we need skills of using software and tools like SPSS, SAS, R, Python, Cognos and Watson. Decision making in the corporate world has moved over from smart guesswork to being based on data analysis.
4. Knowledge of Technology
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and IoT (Internet-of-Things) are no more buzzwords. We are living in an era where machines are becoming smart through application of high end technology and repetitive work are being efficiently handled by bots, drones, robots and humanoids. To make ourselves employable, a deep understanding of the application of technology is more an option, but a compulsion. AI, ML and Big Data are no more an exclusive domain of the Computer Engineer, but also the tech savvy Manager.
5. Design Thinking
The workplace, work process and work execution has undergone a sea change with the introduction of design thinking. Design thinking is a human-centred approach to innovation, anchored in understanding customer’s needs, rapid prototyping, and generating creative ideas that is transforming the way companies are developing products, services, processes, and organizations. Companies like Nordstorm, Bank of America, Starbucks, Nike and GE Healthcare have already adopted the design thinking process and others are fast adopting it. The future manager needs to understand design thinking as well as apply the principles of design thinking in practical work.
2021 has come with a silver lining among the dark clouds as the healthcare companies like Pfizer and Astra Zeneca have announced that they are ready with the vaccine to protect against the Covid-19 infection. However, we must understand that the World has changed and we have to move on and apply advanced skills if we want to sustain ourselves and the organization. And the people and organizations that adapt faster will be the winner in the long run.
Authored By:
Jayanta Chakraborti
Associate Professor at Woxsen University
