Recently MatchCraft’s CEO, Sandy Lohr joined Localogy’s Lizzie Roth to discuss how MatchCraft is tackling the management of a multi-generational team during the crisis.
Below is a synopsis of the webinar.
In the midst of this chaotic crisis, we all have way more on our plates than we did previously. As such the discussion about managing multi-generational teams is timely and much needed.
MatchCraft is a very diverse company, in every possible way! We are a global company with employees spanning 6 generations – just one of the many factors that make MatchCraft’s workforce diverse.
Currently, we are all facing an unprecedented, never seen before, crisis and we are definitely all in this together. So it is important that we understand the differences between generations in the workforce and how these differences can be used to everyone’s advantage – from the youngest (Gen Z) to the oldest (Silent Gen).
Each generation experiences being stereotyped in some or the other way. For example, Millennials are not pleased about being associated with negative Gen Z stereotypes like spring break in times of COVID. But it is imperative to take a look at the traits that truly define the different generations. Such as Baby Boomers’ optimistic disposition but difficulty with adapting to a remote work environment, Gen X’s strong communication skills along with their ability to quickly adapt to a remote work environment, Millennials’ tech-savviness & their online collaboration skills and Gen Z’s digital fluency & their preference of remote teams.
These generational strengths can be and should be well utilized to tackle the current crisis. For example, at MatchCraft it was a Gen Xer that came up with fun ideas to keep our entire team engaged during the monthly all-staff meeting. And it was MatchCraft’s Millennial team members that hosted virtual icebreaking sessions to help the team interact outside of everyday work-related interactions.
During a crisis the following 3 key areas should be taken into consideration:
- All hands-on-deck creativity
- Economic uncertainty
- Managing increased workload
Sandy discusses the above in greater detail during the webinar.
COVID-19 lockdowns have had a huge impact on businesses and how they operate. According to recent studies published by Localogy, the Washington Post & McKinsey, below are the top challenges being faced by businesses:
(Sources: Localogy Modern Commerce Monitor™, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/23/permanent-business-closures-yelp/ & https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/us-small-business-recovery-after-the-covid-19-crisis)
(Sources: Localogy Modern Commerce Monitor™, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/23/permanent-business-closures-yelp/ & https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/us-small-business-recovery-after-the-covid-19-crisis)
As remote working has become the order of the day, businesses across industries shave made many efforts to help remote their workers by making investments in the following areas:
(Source: Localogy Modern Commerce Monitor™)
According to a study published by eMarketer, this is how US employees view remote working:
For us at MatchCraft, helping our workforce go from 50% to a 100% remote was easier than most due to our already in place continuity plans. But we did assist some of our clients in helping their outside sales reps (especially in Europe) transition to being telesales reps by providing them with the pandemic relevant resources – the goal was to help our clients and their advertisers stay in business.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Sandy focused her efforts on being a wartime CEO by making the best decisions and reducing risks, using the information available at hand – no time for meetings or long drawn out research. Decisions like making the safety & health of MatchCraft’s first priority! Followed by ensuring the stability & seamless functioning of our platform adVantage, transparent communication and pooling our resources company-wide.
Sandy also talks in detail about the biggest rewards and challenges of working remotely, both pre-COVID AND during. Followed by solutions employed by MatchCraft to alleviate the negative side effects of working remotely.
You can listen to the entire webinar here.