The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to telecommuting and highlighted how using digital tools such as Zoom has both plusses and minuses for many white-collar workers, according to a May 28, 2020 op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel co-authored by Leila Roumani, program manager at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Culture of Health program, and John Quelch, dean of the University of Miami Herbert Business school and former professor of health policy and management at Harvard Chan School.
Roumani and Quelch noted that for many white-collar workers, access to Zoom and the ability to work from home has cut down on commuting times and has allowed them to spend more time with relatives and children. Among the downsides are that it makes difficult conversations, such as layoffs, even more difficult and it can make it hard for people to read body language and gauge the atmosphere of the meeting.
Quelch and Roumani also co-authored a May 5, 2020 op-ed in the Miami Herald about how the COVID-19 pandemic has “highlighted the symbiotic relationship between businesses and communities, and a community’s health.”
Until now, the authors noted, businesses have viewed community health as the purview of government and have taken a narrow definition of community, mainly focusing on the employees in its workplace. These trends, however, are changing in light of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 is creating a permanent cultural shift that will embolden communities—particularly employees, consumers, and policy makers—to ask more of their company leaders,” the authors wrote.
Read the Orlando Sentinel op-ed: Is Zoom good for your health?
Read the Miami Herald op-ed: COVID-19 shows it’s time for businesses to make community health their business