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Enda Larkin 29/04/2022 Enda Larkin 29/04/2022

Rebuilding your team in a post-COVID world ...

Now that we are thankfully beginning to think again about a return to work post-COVID-19, along with all the many new realities, restrictions, redesigned work practices etc. that you must consider, you will of course also need to think of your people.

If you had developed a high performing team before the shutdown, you deserve a lot of credit for that, because it is never an easy thing to deliver. Naturally, things will not immediately return to ‘normal’ team-wise once you bring your people back together, because along with the many changes that have happened in recent months, your people too will have changed – and perhaps quite fundamentally in some ways. Undoubtedly, there will be an eagerness amongst most employees to get going again, but don’t assume that this eagerness will automatically translate into a return to previous levels of high performance. It will not. In many ways the teambuilding process starts again and understanding the evolution of teams - and the fluctuations in team performance - should be an important component of your post-COVID-19 action plan.

A useful way to introduce the concept of states of effectiveness of teams is to explore something called the Nut Island Effect.

Enda Larkin 27/05/2020 Enda Larkin 27/05/2020

"Better than Specsavers" … how will businesses manage compliance with COVID-19 protocols?

This morning whilst on the way to work, I stopped to grab a coffee as usual. At the entrance to the shop, there’s a sign saying no more than 3 people in the café at a time. There was already three inside, so I joined the queue outside behind the two people already there. As we waited, another guy came along and just marched past the three of us and into the store. The employee said he had to wait outside, and the pleasant response was “F**k you, I just want a coke and I’m not waiting 20 minutes for it.” The guy then grabbed a bottle from the fridge and tried to pay. The employee refused to serve him, and then the manager got involved. At this point the man at the front of the queue waiting to get in also got involved and threatened the guy that he would ‘rip your f**king head off if you don’t let me get my coffee” and it turned into a big shouting match which meant nobody could get served. This went on for quite some time with the guy refusing to budge and apparently the police were called. I had to run for a call so I couldn’t wait around to see the conclusion of the incident, but needless to say I didn’t get my coffee. That’s Dublin folks!

Enda Larkin 22/05/2020 Enda Larkin 22/05/2020

Free Business Reopening Checklist

As an owner or manager, the full reopening of your business is looming large. The precise timetable for you will of course depend upon your national and regional protocols, your sector etc., but sooner or later you will be faced with getting up and running again. This is new territory for all of us, so everyone is finding their feet as to what operating in a post COVID-19 world will look like. There are many sources of information to guide you as you plan ahead, but at my company Dobiquity (www.dobiquity.com) we felt it would be useful to create a checklist that brings together some commonsense criteria for you to consider.

Enda Larkin 16/04/2020 Enda Larkin 16/04/2020

Life just hit us all in the head with a brick … Hail the fail.

There is naturally a lot of doom and gloom about in business circles, and life generally, at present. Sure, we must remain optimistic and look to better days – they will return - but we also have to accept that there is going to be carnage for a while. On the business front, the projections for the survival of many enterprises are stark which in turn has huge implications for owners, managers, employees and indeed customers. For people. Every business whether large and small, new or established, old-school or cutting edge is in a dogfight for survival right now. I am in the same fight as everyone else in this regard so this is not theoretical for me. And sadly, many companies will not make it. No matter what happens, failure is going to be a big part of our lives in the months and years ahead.

That is why it is time to talk about failure. But talk about it in a different way.

Enda Larkin 01/04/2020 Enda Larkin 01/04/2020

“… not even the Virus.”

I met a homeless man on the way into work yesterday. I know him to see and say hello to. Sadly, as we all know only too well, you can find any amount of poor souls like him wandering aimlessly around city streets these days, many in various stages of distress. And you can tell that some are relatively new to it all too ... not yet caked in dirt, or with that hollow, worn-out-look that only homelessness can give someone. This guy is a long time on the streets, it’s etched all over his face. And particularly the eyes.

Real lives. Real problems. And now add COVID-19 to the mix. It's sad, heart-breaking even.

Enda Larkin 27/03/2020 Enda Larkin 27/03/2020

COVID Woe-Vid

When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

John F Kennedy

I know, I know. These quotes can be annoying at times like this. Regardless of your industry, it’s probably impossible to see any potential opportunities stemming from COVID-19 right now, and indeed they may well be few and far between. But there certainly is a present danger, so if nothing else, that must be faced down. In itself that presents an opportunity of sorts: to motivate your team to pull together as a unit to face down this crisis as best you can.