What has 2020 taught us?

Lessons of 2020 have to be what we take away from this unparalleled year. If we walk away unchanged, not pivoting toward something better, then we are missing an opportunity to grow. According to the internet, Frederick Douglass once said “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Not sure if that’s a fact or cut-and-paste driven myth, which I guess we are doing again here, but nevertheless, it’s true, whoever said it. 

It’s been a year of struggle, but that doesn’t mean we can’t come out on the other side feeling stronger and maybe a little wiser. Hard times make us reevaluate and reprioritize. We come away with a fresh focus. Here is my list of 2020 lessons that I hope will stay with me long after the dust settles, and I hope will reshape how we work together as a society. After I share mine, I’d love to hear your list as well. Get in touch.

Without further ado, my lessons learned of 2020 list.

Remote working has many advantages.

It’s been such a long discussion that we’ve all dipped into for years. Most of my own voice over acting career has been at my home studio. As I’ve worked remotely for well over a decade, I’ve connected with so many people in so many industries who have been working this way too. For some, that freelance or remote lifestyle makes sense for their business and it’s been an acceptable practice. For others, it’s felt novel and almost rebel-like to set up a home office and make that their workspace. But as technology has exploded with opportunities in the last few years, remote working really makes a lot of sense. I don’t know why it’s taken so long to get every workplace and employer up to speed on the benefits of remote work, but this year, as so many of us were forced into it, many for the first time, we saw the many benefits. 

• Employees are able to work from anywhere, such as their homes, which in the heights of the pandemic was the safest place to be.
• It saves on overhead costs. Companies learned that first hand this year, as many gave up their office spaces and started saving money.  
• It provides flexibility to employees which equals happier employees. They can be with their families when they need to be and work in ways that make the most sense for them. 

Remote working is no longer just a perk, but in many ways, the new norm.

That brings me to my second point.

Remote working has its challenges.

The honeymoon is over with this once-sought-after perk. And now that so many are spending so much time with this new reality, we are coming to terms with some of the disadvantages as well. First there’s the isolation. No more break room, water cooler chats. No more catching up with a colleague over coffee. It can get lonely. And second, technology has its hiccups. Yep, even Zoom has its problems. But with these challenges comes opportunities to be better. We’ve learned how to have Virtual Happy Hours and how to tighten up our systems.

Learn from the Pros and Cons

One of the best things we can do is to learn from the pros and cons and find a happy medium when it’s safe to do so. Now that we know that remote working actually works, but with some challenges, maybe we can develop new norms, where people come into the office part time or sometimes, with flexibility and creativity. We can build new working models that actually benefit both our personal and professional lives. 

Room for Improvement

With that, we have also learned that we have a lot of room for improvement in our environments. We’ve been taking a hard look at representation, inclusivity, and making sure all of our employees are comfortable and listened to in their work space. That work needs to continue. We need to keep having the conversations, listening to one another, and finding solutions that matter and that last. And then actually acting on those solutions and implementing them. The only way to come away from these hard times with growth is by integrating change.

Taking care of one another

This leads me to my fifth take away from this year. We’ve learned so much about employee happiness, retention, and holistic thinking when it comes to taking care of one another. I really want us to go into the next year, and beyond, thinking about how we can show up for our employees, and one another, in the future. What kind of steps can we take that actually show that we care about the whole person. I have a few ideas, but I know there are so many more, if we think creatively and well.

Maybe we need to make Election day a day off for everyone so they actually get to their polling places.

Maybe more employers should consider donation matching to encourage charitable giving among their team.

In conjunction, maybe teams should start having a day of volunteer service, or even make it quarterly, so people are encouraged to get out and give back. And we need to talk more about discrimination workshops and events that not only educate, but also foster healthy communication. All these things can be done outside the workplace as well. Maybe civic groups, community memberships, volunteer organizations, and other gatherings of people will start to implement these types of actionable steps forward.

Resilience and Innovation

And here’s my big take away from this year. Humans are resilient and innovative. So often that’s the take away from any hard thing we walk through together, because it’s true. We are amazingly able to face something hard and to come together and shine in the midst of it. Need some examples from this year?

• The Vaccine Race. Not only did companies work together, even as they were competing, but they uncovered results from nothing in record time. 
• So, so many people were able to shift their office jobs and schooling to 100% virtual, basically overnight, which is an amazing feat. 
• When we started running out of hand sanitizer, PPEs and more, companies shifted and started manufacturing them. The ingenuity alone is inspiring. 

Yes, folks, it’s been a tough year.

A year of digging deep and learning more about who we are as a society and as individuals. We certainly don’t know what next year will hold, but I hope that we can take these lessons and let them shape for the better how we approach the challenges ahead.

Oh and let’s not forget one of the most important lessons of this year: just keep a stash of toilet paper on hand. Because you never know when that’s going to get crazy again.