One of the common challenges mentioned was the adjustment overnight from having mission-based, close-knit, high energy cultures to leading remote workers that ranged from Millennials (suddenly sheltering alone without any real support system) to parents trying to work while taking care of small children or home-schooling. Disruption has reinforced the dual role that work plays in employees’ health and well-being and in the health and well-being of partners, clients, and customers. All three leaders agree that refocusing on mission helped to re-ground their teams in this unsettled time.
The conversation shifted about half-way through from one
about COVID to the George Floyd tragedy and issues of equity and
inclusion. As Brenna Berman said, “The
pandemic will be managed and addressed . . . [but] the social justice issue is
the one that’s going to take the hard work.” The idea that entrepreneurs can use this moment to arrive at a more just and equitable workplace was a moment of epiphany for me.
The complete video can be found here on the City Tech Collaborative site--and thanks for their sponsorship. Below, I have chosen just three of my favorite insights (lightly edited for context and clarity) from the 75-minute panel. There is much more, and I encourage you to watch it all.
On “fast-forwarding” the future (11:10): “It was
important to remind ourselves that the end of the world has been predicted many
times—and it has not happened. [We need
to keep] that squarely in our sights.
We have an online platform that facilitates offline transactions.
So, when shelter-in-place went into effect in the majority of the cities we
operate in . . . all of our construction projects came to a grinding halt. Our business, within the course of a week, went
from processing thousands of renovations to processing almost none. And that is, of course, an incredibly scary
moment for our staff, for our general contractors, and for our homeowners who might
have been in all different stages of their renovation. But we had to hold fast
to the idea that . . . this will not be the end of the world. People will still live in houses. People will
still want to renovate those houses. We will get back to business.
And to really take this opportunity to invest in the things
that will stabilize us now as a company—and that certainly included some
cost-cutting measures and some reallocation of funds . . . But then really look
for opportunities to invest now so that we can thrive later.
Of course, no one wants to think about COVID as having any
silver linings, when hundreds of thousands of people are dying and so many
people are losing their jobs and sufferings . . . but I did think it was
important to look to this moment and the opportunities it presented us.
That meant the fast-forwarding of the future of
construction. I believe—and we see—that our
general contractors are now willing and open to using technology solutions that
they were not open to using before this happened. We believe that we’ve probably been fast-forwarded three to five
years into the future as it related to construction
technology. And we’re taking advantage
of that opportunity.”
On protecting mental health in a “remote” world (28:30):
“I was not as protective of my time as Jean was early on . . . Like a lot of
people, I’m home with kids who are going to school and trying to balance a
number of things beyond just work . . . I’m a Peloton person . . . and I’m maniacal
about that half-hour on that bike . . . And [I needed to] encourage my team to
take that time away. We did call a
couple of “mental health days” early on: “This Friday is off—there’s nothing we’re
doing today that won’t be here on Monday.” And especially now in the summer
months, encouraging people to take vacation time, even if they can’t use it to
go anywhere . . . to protect their mental sanity and health space and get that
time with their family and friends in whatever way is healthy and safe for them
to do that. To make sure that they can continue
to bring their value to the table for their family and for their jobs . . .
(50:45): We’re finally seeing some of the studies of
the impact that remote work has had, frankly, on the productivity of women as
the primary caregivers . . . and there’s been a lack of discussion around the
fact that you can’t work from home if you’re taking care of your kids at the
same time. The less affluent you are, the bigger problem that is. It has all sorts of social ramifications. I think it’s been a very undefined and
unsettled conversation . . . The best outcome of this for any company big or
small is the ability to rethink what the right hybrid situation is for
them. No longer do you have to make one
decision or another--we’re in an office or we work at home . . .
All of these innovations that we’re finding now . . . give us the ability
to think more broadly about how we view everything and use that thinking to say:
My end goal is a more diverse, more flexible, more enlightened, available
workforce . . . How do I get there? What’s the means that help me achieve that?
. . . We kind of have a blank slate for that now.
On equity and diversity (47:00): I’m hopeful that if we can all get through
this . . . it's going to be an incredible step forward for families. It’s going to be a step forward for
supporting companies that, like ours, have so much work do to as it relates to
diversity, equity, and inclusion. Being
able to think about the world as a talent pool, about the United States as a
talent pool. Not having it be centered around 330 Congress in Boston is refreshing
for me. We’ve already begun exploring
more proactive recruitment of diverse networks.
For me . . . the George Floyd issues and tragedy and everything
around that has been way harder to navigate as a leader and with my team
than COVID and remote work . . . COVID was thrust upon us totally external
force. But around racial justice,
inequity . . . There’s no vaccine that’s going to create equity and inclusion overnight.
The only thing that’s going to do that is a ton of hard work, long-term
planning, changing our networks. Those of the things that I’m hopeful that, out
of two tragedies and this confluence of events--one natural, one societal--that
there might be an opportunity to have both remote work and diversity, equity,
and inclusion as being some of the legacies of 2020 that are actually quite
positive.
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