New ethical challenges the new world after Coronavirus

Hi Deepa,

When stay-at-home orders get lifted, and individuals start returning to work in mass, companies are likely to be confronted with new legal and ethical challenges related to worker’s protection. In other words, what we considered normal interactions in the past would, for some, become “unsafe working conditions.”

Even when companies implement governmental recommendations for social distancing in the workplace, an individual’s emotional tolerance for in-person interaction (post-crisis) is likely to conflict with the new standard or the companies interpretation of that standard. So, when there is a conflict in this area, does the company respect the worker’s concern and provide accommodation, or do they make it an issue of performance?

For instance, imagine the need for a meeting/workshop where you would normally pull teams together to challenge-out a solution to a critical problem in a conference room. What dynamics could change:

Conference Room – pre crisis:
- Shoulder to shoulder seating, confined space for even one presenter, little air circulation, etc.
- Shared equipment/devices (e.g., whiteboard markers, digital pens, switches, microphones, speakers, phones, video, etc.)
- Elevated conversations due to vesting in the topic (e.g., air particles expelled from ones mouth, with the rate of emission corresponding to voice loudness)

Conference Room – possible post-crisis:
- 1/3 of the seating available, Masks being worn with possible distortion of voice.
- The impracticality of having closed-room meetings with large groups.
- Lack of functional focus in a meeting, as concern is to “being exposed.”
- Lack of participation as some team members opted out due to an unsafe environment (even with mitigation measures).
- With the above, resolving challenges is going to become more complicated, thus possibly impacting the forward movement of projects.

Regardless of mitigation measures, there will be some who will understandably not be comfortable in group in-person meetings. How are we going to define what is “right and wrong” conduct in this new environment? What will constitute a “dangerous work environment.” For instance, would “speaking enthusiastically” become a physical offense – although bizarre, not beyond one’s interpretation, understanding the dynamics of air expulsion from one’s mouth.

Okay, maybe the above is extreme. However, I believe there will be many areas that we considered normal interaction (in the past) that will now have an “ethical working environment” consequence.

There will always be ethical conundrums in every business venture. They unfortunately cannot be stopped because people simply make a mistake, get caught up in the moment, or , unfortunately, there are just some unethical people that are only interested in making a quick buck. This pandemic is no different as I've heard reports of dozens of fake virus testing kits being confiscated in California. Even if people try to do the right thing, there is always going to be someone out there that wants to do the wrong thing.

But this pandemic has taught me a few things in dealing with prospective partners. First, you need to look at the history of the person or company you are looking to partner with. What is their reputation in the business community? How do their former employees/partners value the business? And the new question to ask is how did they support their community in this time of crisis?

I also believe that some good will come out of this pandemic, and that will be more flexible options for corporations. Many businesses that didn't offer the work from home option before, but are now forced to in order to comply with Stay at Home orders are finding it to be more economical. They are starting to realize that they don't need to have that business space for everyone to work in a single spot. This will save on rent, electricity, office supplies and furnishings. But it will also rely on the ethical nature of the employees:
1. Are the people who claim to work 40 hours a week at home really working those 40 hours, or are they making their presence known and then going out to play golf?
2. Is the amount of work getting done in the same time as it would have been if it was done in the office and with the same quality?
3. Do the companies need to install keystroke loggers to ensure the employees are not using company resources from home for their own benefit?

That last question could be considered an ethical conundrum as well...is it for the safety and stability of the company or is it Big Brother watching you. In my opinion it is not an invasion of privacy because it's not my equipment. It belongs to my company. However, if this was policy, I also feel it needs to be disclosed.

Ganesh, absolutely and I am sure this resonates with many of us who are readers to this discussion. Should there be any changes in the contractual clauses to ensure such situations are taken care of?

Will this entire organization-wide WFH continue for the most part? Or how much will the relaxation be to this order of working?

So many things to consider..

Hi Luis, thank you. I agree with you on finding those references but wonder who would those be? how will we, as project managers, view them to be "ethically correct" given the context we are going to evolve in.

Any examples?