The objective for all countries is getting back to “normal”. Our economies are shaky, our businesses are in peril, enormous numbers of people are unemployed, and many are pleading to reopen their businesses. The safety of that is being debated as to timing, testing and graduated steps to avoid losing the gains made by sheltering in place.
But what will the new “normal” look like? Coronavirus has changed the way people use and see things. Will we return to the way we lived and did business before this “war” changed many of our perceptions overnight?
When we consider health care following this pandemic, it is hard to imagine how views will change. Will we see value in insuring that everyone has good health care and is allowed time off for sick leave? Will we have more confidence in online medical care? How will insurance companies work with patients and doctors? Will we have more mental health counselors available for our employees to work with the stresses and fears caused by this pandemic and aftermath?
Similarly, we must imagine that mandated stay-at-home orders will change the way society views the workplace. Many of us have been working from home with the help of technology. Small numbers of people have been doing this for years, but will most people now do much of their work from home? If we come into the office will our workspaces need to be rearranged to keep social distancing? Will we stagger schedules for employees, so they are not all in the office all at once? Will we hold meetings by internet even in the office?
Along those same lines, conventional classrooms and learning environments will also be re-evaluated. But how? Will schools stagger classes to keep them small, having some attend in the morning and others in the afternoon and online classes at home for the other half of the day? Will university students do more of their classes online to also keep student costs down by foregoing lecture halls, less buildings, and fewer professors?
Inevitably, some, or many, of our businesses will change. For example, look at auto sales. Auto sales have continued during the pandemic by online sales. Buyers get full views of cars on video, a full scope of colors and accessories without going to a showroom. Price negotiations are online. The sale takes place remotely. And the car is delivered to you at your home or business. Service departments pick up and deliver.
Realtors are doing live videos of houses inside and out plus the neighborhood while connected to answer questions as buyers e-inspect the properties. Closings are being made using online notaries.
Court hearings have been conducted by video benefitting attorneys, judges and witnesses, saving time and cutting costs.
A strong need in this crisis has been personal communication, reaching out to others to make sure they are doing well and reassuring them that “we are all in this together”. Fortunately for many, technology has served us well with Zoom and other platforms available for interactions and the ability to see people rather than just talking with each other. We can communicate well, share our problems and often find creative solutions.
Primerus is reaching out to our members and asking them to connect with us and other Primerus members to help in this crisis. We have our new weekly eMagazine in which we hope to share ideas with each other. We are setting up coffee hours and wine hours to discuss problems and ideas. We are hosting webinars to collaborate and plan for legal challenges presented by Coronavirus. We are working to share suggestions for helping people in our communities, and we are trying to stay closely connected with our Primerus family of lawyers as “we are all in this together”.
Many of these business workings and more were happening before the pandemic but have become the norm during the pandemic. Will these changes stay with us as we return to business? That may be a boon for less traffic, wear on our highways and infrastructure, less crowding, less pollution, and less stress on our population. Maybe the changes to “normal” will benefit the health of our planet.