Today, because of the virus and our inability to control it millions of people are working autonomously at home. I call companies and in the past I would get someone in a few minutes, I am now left on the line up to an hour. I am now waiting to speak to someone at Verizon, waiting and listening to their music.

“Autonomous employees” is a good sign of maturity and respect for people but we have to learn a whole new way of managing. A manager has to learn now how to be a coach to bring out the best of people so that they can handle being autonomous effectively for the customer and the company. People can do it but they have to be trained and we need a whole new reporting system to insure people are doing it. People at home can be easily distracted by family, friends, etc. At work, they were often monitored by their supervisor or manager. Those days are gone, maybe forever.

“Agile communities” is a wonderful example to draw from. People working in the software industry do have both a manager and an agile coach. Each with a different set of duties to support you. A manager often directs and tells you what to do while an agile coach is there to bring out the best from and help you be part of a very effective team.

In this past month, I have found it very difficult to reach people on the phone and most companies do not have a system to quickly switch you to someone else. Customer service in America is swiftly deteriorating. People in government in Washington are totally lost. In Japan, 972 have died due to the virus, in America, it is over 128,000. Unfortunately, our political leaders have proven to be totally incompetent. To be saved, our corporate leaders have to rise up now in unison to fill this void.

This is a great opportunity for you to help your organization become more not less effective and efficient.

Let us know how you feel about this. Thank you.