Coronavirus Vaccine – To take or not to take?

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I realise this is a departure from my usual blog. I recently got the second shot of the Coronavirus vaccine, and I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. But I soon realised that nothing had changed. A couple of days after getting my shot, I learned that one of my neighbours, who coincidentally is a doctor and fully vaccinated, was tested positive.

Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash

At the end of the day, we still have to wear masks and practice social distancing. And I urge you to continue wearing masks, practice social distancing, try self-isolation (at least as much as you can before going bonkers), and hand sanitise, at least until COVID-19 is well and truly behind us. Just because you have been vaccinated doesn’t mean you are fully protected against the coronavirus infection; it merely reduces the chances of developing complications by helping your body develop antibodies. Keep in mind, most vaccines have only about 90% efficacy.

But why isn’t COVID-19 just going away? Why does it keep evolving and mutating?  

The simple answer is because we are giving it time to evolve and mutate. Even today, a vast majority of the world’s population remains unvaccinated; only about 30% of the world’s population is fully vaccinated (status on Sep 14, 2021, see the chart below). There are several reasons for this – from the lack of availability of the vaccine in certain areas to false information being spread and an inherent mistrust for vaccines. 

Source: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

So, why is it so hard for us to believe highly educated and qualified scientists and doctors, who have worked endless hours to get us COVID-19 vaccines in record time, but are swayed by celebrities and politicians who tweet for publicity and whose only research is a cousin in Trinidad who won’t get the vaccine because his friend got it and became impotent (a reference to a recent Tweet by a popular rap star).

The answer is FEAR. All we need is a kernel of doubt to be planted in our minds, and our imagination will do the rest.

People are afraid of the unknown

There are many reasons people come up with for not taking the vaccine or for looking at alternatives. I can understand the fear, but more than a billion people worldwide have already taken the vaccine, and it has worked out well for the overwhelming majority of them. It is no longer the unknown.

People are afraid of the government – because they “rushed” the vaccine to look good in the eyes of the voters or to blame the inaction of the opposition

Protest in Liestal, Switzerland against the corona pandemic measures. Photo by Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash.

As for the government rushing the vaccine (which they did), this is a legitimate concern. Do you want to put something in your body that was rushed or not tested enough? The fact of the matter is that researchers were already researching vaccines for other coronaviruses for years, so when COVID-19 hit, they were already ahead of the game. In the US, “Operation Warp Speed” wasn’t about rushing the science but about cutting down the bureaucracy. Researchers were able to compress the timeline for the development of the vaccine; things that were done in sequence were done in parallel to save time. 

People are afraid of the side effects of the vaccine

Most medications will have side effects; you can usually find the warning on the label. For a vast majority of people, the side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine will just be minor – headaches, cold or flu symptoms, fever, and body pain are some of the most common. Serious side effects like anaphylaxis are very rare (example: 4.7 cases/million for Pfizer-BioNTech and 2.5 cases/million for Moderna, for vaccine doses administered) and usually only occur for cases with a history of allergy.

People are afraid of big corporations – they have the right to be because most big corporations are out to get your money 

The greed of man can be astounding, and it won’t surprise me to find out that some might have cut corners or taken other underhanded steps to increase their profits. But this is the COVID-19 pandemic, and the eye of the world is riveted on this. And it will be a brave (and in this case, by brave I mean psychopathic) company or executive that will play around with results that can impact millions of lives. But I still wouldn’t put anything past man’s greed, but that would not be more than the usual (cynical, I know).

The point is, we have to flatten the curve. We must develop herd immunity. And for this to happen, more people must be vaccinated. Because if you do not take the vaccine, you might not be affected by COVID-19, but you can still spread it to other people, becoming a carrier and helping the virus mutate. Encourage your friends, neighbours, and family to get vaccinated.

Source: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases

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Stay safe. Stay healthy. Get vaccinated.

5 ways to effectively manage virtual teams

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The pandemic has changed the way the world operates. It is essential that we go remote in order to flatten the curve and stop the spread of the novel corona virus. Working remotely may have started as a necessity and an ongoing trend but has become the new normal and is here to stay! While many of us had long dreamt of being able to work remotely (at least for a couple of days in a week), now are working from home every day. #WFH (Work from Home) is the way of the future workplace.  
 

The change has not only affected the corporate world, but the healthcare and education sectors alike. Clinics are now operating remotely with doctors taking online, rather than in-person consultations. Universities have moved their on-campus programmes to online programmes, with professors teaching classes and posting lectures online. Barring some essential service occupations or frontline jobs like emergency workers, retail stores, restaurants and hotels, banking, etc. (where not closed), everything else seems to have moved online.  
 

Most of the businesses have shifted their work online

Many corporates have realized that they actually don’t need workers to physically come to work. Jobs can be managed from home or from practically anywhere in the world. In last week’s blog, we saw how challenging it is to work from home and some useful tips on overcoming those challenges. Now imagine you are not only working from home, but also having to manage a team remotely as well! What a challenge! This has led to heightened responsibility and a greater role for the team leaders. Managers across industries are rapidly looking for new methods and techniques to manage their widely dispersed and distributed teams remotely.  

Managing virtual teams through video-conferencing

In the wake of these new challenges, business leaders are required to be all the more creative, focus on new means of communication, and be more inclusive. 

So, here are 5 ways that will help you, a new (or old) remote leader, manage your new remote team effectively: 

1. Set clear objectives and expectations 

      Studies show that most workers are not clear of what is expected of them at work. When working remotely this will become even more difficult if not handled properly. In order to encourage maximum participation and engagement from the employees, set clear agendas, norms and expectations with your team. Come to a common consensus as a group so that each employee is comfortable with the goals of the team.  

2. Communication is the Key 

    While working remotely, there is no such thing as over-communicating. It is rather “are you communicating enough”?! While in a normal office environment, a small miscommunication can cause trouble; imagine how haywire things can go when you are managing a team remotely. There are different teams cross functioning, with different perspectives that a leader has to handle at a time. Communicating constantly is an effective means to guide employees, and keeping them engaged and motivated.  

Choose the most effective means, amongst the various means of communication

3. Utilize various means of communication 

    Deriving from the above point, a leader needs to find effective means of communication. The pandemic has given us several alternate communication methods. Business leaders can adopt any of the many tools available like Microsoft Teams, video-conferring on Zoom, UberConference, more conventional Skype, texting, etc. A leader must determine when to use a video-conferencing tool to establish a more personalized conversation, or a quick audio-call or a buzz on Skype messenger for a quick follow up on the work status. This will also establish a norm for employees on how to interact and communicate effectively amongst themselves, and with the manager.  

4. Hold daily and regular check-ins 

    Working remotely might be a new experience for many of your workers. It can be overwhelming for some of them to adjust to this whole new work culture, where the workers are separated from their peers and managers. They might need help and support, but unlike in a normal office environment where they could go knock on their boss’s door or lean on co-worker’s cubicle, employees may not be able to find such instant support or comfort while working remotely. It is therefore necessary for the team managers to have regular check-ins, and one-on-one conversations with their team members. It is all the more important for them to empathize with the situation and hear out what challenges or issues their staff are facing and suggest appropriate solutions. 

A home office setup. #wfh is the new normal.

5. Empowering your employees 

    While working remotely, everyone is their own manager (well at least at their homes, and unless kids are around!). The team leader must tread very carefully before entrusting more responsibilities to the members. The managers must learn to trust and empower their employees. Encouraging a trust-based culture has proven to have an increase in innovation, agility, employee engagement and job satisfaction.  

Being an effective and innovative team leader is not everyone’s cup of tea and managing remotely comes with its own challenges. Keeping the above points in view, using the right tools with a high degree of emotional intelligence, and by adopting the best management practices, you can be an effective leader, and help your team thrive. For all the new remote managers, we trust that you’ve got this! Do share with us your own remote managing experience and challenges in the comments section below.