The 2 certainties in the pandemic: teletraining and teleworking

December
8, 2020

7 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

In the professional world, concepts such as VUCA ( Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) became fashionable again; the curve of change; resilience and others of the type. All good theoretically, but in practice difficult to assimilate. From the beginning we have anxiously sought a firm ground, something that helps us overcome the economic-existential crisis between pajamas with jackets, faulty joints, massive layoffs and loss of loved ones. Chaos was present.

^{Change curve / Source: The Persuasion Institute of The Americas}

Nothing has really changed since that beginning, but our mind is more used to the VUCA: the neocortex is no longer sequestered by the amygdala, reason returns little by little and on the curve of change we are already in the decision phase (see figure above ). Now we can ask ourselves again with more probability of success how we can be more resilient.

The answer lies in the two certainties that COVID 19 leaves us: teleworking and teletraining .

Tele-training is targeting in a very “Darwinian” way those who best adapt to the environment, and part of that reality is the lack of both time and desire to take courses.

Let’s review two references on these issues and their opinion.

The Netflix of corporate training

Martha Forero is founder of UBITS, a startup of corporate training that is part of Y Combinator, the accelerator that has promoted companies such as Airbnb and Dropbox . Martha and her organization are betting on a new generation of people who require agility and variety:

“UBITS is the Netflix of corporate training, a microlearning system through short courses (bits) online. When we started UBITS, we observed that in companies there is a very large gap in training: 30% of the budget is allocated to training managers and 70% to the rest of employees, who are 97% of the organization. That money is allocated by the HR manager or director according to what is considered important. We wonder what would happen if the HR director provided more high-quality options that were tailored to the needs of each person and that were universally accessible ”.

“The UBITS catalog includes more than 460 courses whose themes allow the development of soft, strong and technical skills. For the user, it is much more attractive to see a display of possibilities that adapt to their tastes and needs, as in Netflix it happens with movie genres, in addition to being presented by pure stars : company presidents, consultants and experts in each subject . All courses are absolutely practical and without theory. We are the university of bits, small courses ”.

The economic crisis caused by the pandemic caused the resources of many companies to be reduced in several areas. Such is the case of corporate training, an area that 44.6% of the organizations surveyed in November by UBITS reduced their budget. Similarly, the future seems governed by skills that were not so important before, but that the situation gave them a new impetus. The study ‘The future of work in Latin America 2020’ found that more than half of the companies consulted (54.5%) assured that they expect to train their workers in softskills , such as leadership, decision-making and assertive communication.

Strategies

Michael Porter, the great strategy guru, talks about three generic strategies one should consider in any business: differentiation, focus, and price leadership. UBITS represents the different way of tele-training, but what if you add a focus on softskills to tele-training ?

It would also be wise to consider the stark reality that is definitely a certainty in this new age, telecommuting, and if we get even more realistic, layoffs. Who is your hero in business? Branson, Musk, Gates, Jobs … or it could be something more national like Slim or Aramburuzabala: What is the basic advice that any of them would give you?

Follow your passion. If you’re good at it, work on it or get started. “

Who works with a strategy of focus and passion to undertake in softskills issues?

The factory of passionate entrepreneurs

Alvaro Gordoa is rector of the Public Image College, author of the book The HABLA method , famous influencer in social networks and invited in various media as an expert on the subject of public image (Martha Debayle, La Academia, among others). The institution that Alvaro leads, this year celebrated its 20th anniversary.

“The College of Public Image is focused on entrepreneurs who follow their passion and work at it. Of course, studying for a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate in this fascinating area of knowledge can be very useful in any profession, but we think of the school as a factory for entrepreneurs; of consultants working on what they are really passionate about. In this field there are many opportunities to generate your own employment. You can advise from a politician to an executive, or even an artist on various communication issues such as public speaking, the correct way to express the essence when dressing and the effective way to behave in different professional environments. Also, our graduates successfully advise companies on their environmental, audiovisual and visual image to provoke what we technically call a positive unified collective response ”.

“What we designed environmentally and pedagogically as the most beautiful university in Mexico, we also thought from the beginning as tele-training in our Global Campus. We were, without a doubt, the first university to use systems that allowed us to teach live remotely: we used Zoom long before it was famous. Ten years before the pandemic, our professors were already prepared for it, and since then, students from all over the world have learned to be entrepreneurs with a focus on their passion ”.

“You can perfectly be a public image consultant from home if you wish; there is a great blue ocean of telecommuting opportunities to help countless clients ”.

Both in the corporate environment and in self-employment and entrepreneurship, teleworking is here to stay. According to UBITS research, 66.2% of organizations are considering implementing remote work in their company. Of this group, 49% would do it in a mixed way (with face-to-face work in the office during some days of the week); while 40.4% would use the ‘coworking’ modality (the worker goes to the office only on the days that they deem necessary). And only 10.6% would implement remote work 100%.

The reality changed. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity are less so if you are a leader on the change curve (see figure above). Build your differentiation strategy or approach based on these two certainties: teleworking and tele-training. They are part of that firm ground you were waiting for to make smart decisions and embrace success.