5 Lessons Learned From 2020

“The worst year ever.”

2020 has been tough on everyone in some way. The global pandemic challenged businesses more than ever before to maintain growth or simply keep their heads above water. However, we can reflect on the year and see that we learned a lot of lessons. As you prepare for the Holiday break and head into the New Year, keep these lessons in mind, and consider the possibilities of how a People Intelligence Platform can help you embrace these lessons.

Flexibility is Key.

At the end of 2019,  Americans barely knew what Coronavirus was—I doubt many business leaders put “Prepare for Worldwide Pandemic” at the top of their New Year’s To-Do. And while you can create plans A, B, C, and D, they don’t always work, and that’s where flexibility comes in. A People Intelligence platform can help you be flexible—by  aggregating and analyzing all of your data from communication tools you use, consolidated in one place, so when an unanticipated situation arises (see: sudden move to remote work), you can look at your whole team from a bird’s eye view to make sure everyone is getting what they need. 

There is a New Definition of Productivity. 

There’s plenty of controversy over whether the pandemic will cause a permanent shift to work from home. And while many employers assumed that work from home could be detrimental to the company, a Harvard Business Review study found that working from home actually made people more productive—it’s not that they were necessarily doing more, it’s just that they were spending their time in a better way. Employees are spending less time in big meetings and more time with customers. Additionally, employees are viewing their tasks as less unimportant and more valuable. There is no doubt that workers who find their work more engaging are more likely to add greater value to the company. A People Intelligence platform can help you keep your workers engaged by identifying bottlenecks. With Peoplelogic, you can even get a personalized Stay Factor Score for your teams and individual employees to see who is most engaged or who may need a change of pace. 

It is Important to Know Your People.

As I wrote about last week, one of the keys to being a great leader is leading with compassion and empathy. Additionally, this year, managers learned the importance of knowing their employees—each employee was impacted by the crisis differently. For some, they were dealing with mental health issues. For others, they were dealing with a sudden lack of childcare. This is why it’s essential to know each of your employees individually (perhaps using the big five), to make sure they get what they need. With a People Intelligence platform such as Peoplelogic, you can get individualized recommendations for all of your employees, so you know if they are close to burnout or could use a (virtual) high five.

We Should Embrace Technology.

2020 is the year that proved how valuable technology could be. Imagine if this pandemic had happened twenty years ago—the knowledge work world would’ve hit full stop. However, teams could use various communication platforms, including virtual meeting services, and it was somewhat “business as usual.” Many companies were already using these tools before in some capacity, and their value proved true when the pandemic hit. With a People Intelligence platform, businesses can get aggregate data from all of these communication platforms to get recommendations and personalized insights for their team and company, right in front of them in an easy to read dashboard to help stabilize growth during a rocky time. 

Data is Power. 

Lastly, this year came with some difficult decision making for businesses. Those decisions were made easier for companies already using People Intelligence platforms—they didn’t have to rely on a gut feeling. They could see all of their data (and with Peoplelogic, their ONA’s) all right in front of them to make those decisions objectively. There is no doubt that data made it a lot easier for many businesses, and easy-to-read data can make a world of difference. 

Want a People Intelligence platform that can help you start the New Year off strong? Check out Peoplelogic. Peoplelogic is a People Intelligence platform that easily integrates data from platforms your company is already using—such as Zoom, GitHub, G-Suite, Hubspot, Trello, and more, into an easy to read dashboard that gives your managers and executives actionable insights and recommendations. Peoplelogic also provides real-time suggestions to help decrease bottlenecks, improve performance and growth, manage team capacity, and increase employee engagement.  Get started with Peoplelogic today with a 30-day free trial.