Managers were interviewed between April and June 2020 about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three key tensions were identified: 1) between tradition and innovation, 2) changes in communication structures versus established structures, and 3) disruption of comfort zones. While digitalization was accelerated, long-term impacts on business models and power structures remain uncertain. Managers must balance optimism to shape the future with addressing underlying issues merely accelerated by the crisis.

1. Out of office
When, if not now, will we embark on
the new economy of the future?
A study on sensemaking in management during
the Corona pandemic
BA Communications Science
Dr. Hartmut Hübner
Munich, July 2020
01München,20.Juli2020

2. 30 interviews with managers between
April and June 2020 (DE, CH, AT, FR, GB)
02München,20.Juli2020
Hospitality, industry, IT, banks and
insurance companies
Transcription Discourse Analysis
Hypotheses Models

3. Management Summary: What managers are currently telling us
03
▪ The economic aspect: “Back to profitable growth"
vs. "How will we make money in the future?" "Shaping the future of business"
▪ Trust is the word of the hour: Participating in the discussion. Taking responsibility. Providing perspectives.
Today’s leaders are not the same as those before the pandemic.
▪ Communication in focus: How to shape communication in the virtual environment in the long term?
How to solve individual tensions?
▪ Agile working is the new standard. It is here to stay. But is that enough for a paradigm shift?
Are we going to return to the old way of working?
▪ Overall: The individual moves into focus – this includes the emotional side of a technical-quantitative world.
Manager. Customer. Employee. Through digitalization every relationship becomes 1:1.
Munich,July20,2020

4. HHDiscussion of the results6
Team 1Flow factor5
Team 2Communication rooms4
Team 3Integral communication3
Teams 4 & 5Fields of tension & quotations2
HHIntroduction1
Agenda
4

5. 05
• Sharp presentation of the crisis by the media does not reflect the inner state of the companies
• Most of them have quickly adapted to the new situation (home office, virtual work)
• But: Concerns about not being sufficiently prepared for possible long-term consequences
Corona crisis from different perspectives: Safe, solution-oriented handling
vs. fear of long-term consequences
Purpose: Just a fashion term or is there more to it than that?
• "Liquidity is King": Profit and growth as short-term goals to bridge the crisis
• In the long term, a change towards greater sustainability is essential
• In the long term, the goals 'before Corona' should also be put back on the agenda
Tradition vs. innovation
• Tradition and innovation must be thought together
• Traditional values can only be maintained if there is sufficient adaptation to the new
circumstances
Tensions (1): Between habit and breaking up
Munich,July20,2020

6. 06
Tensions (1): Between habit and departure
▪ "But I don't see the upheaval in Germany [...] In
Western Europe, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy,
we already perceive that the cuts were much, much
sharper for our colleagues in their daily lives.
▪ "The purpose is to help ensure that the employees
are fulfilled. Discrepancy between one's own
purpose and the company's purpose should be kept
to a minimum."
▪ "Ever since […] was founded, innovation has been
our top priority, and we have long understood that it
is part of our strategy and corporate goal and sense
of corporate responsibility.
Munich,July20,2020

7. 07Munich,9July2020
• Teamwork with product responsibility is the new norm (agile working)
• Talents plus skills make successful teams
• Example: Virtual meetings are perceived as much more effective
• Problem: Values work is missing, often in large organizations (see Tension 1)
Implementation of New Work vs. “old” values
Changes in the communication structure in companies vs. appreciation of established structures
• Corona crisis as an occasion to dissolve old structures: "Generational transformation”
• Challenge: “To keep up the flow through communication” without personal meetings
• "Everyone’s participation and well-being is the be-all and end-all"
• Teamwork, collegial coordination, agreement between departments and cooperation with other companies are
also essential during Corona
• Companies want to establish various new work concepts (e.g. maintain home office)
• But also increasing appreciation of direct contact; home office is no substitute for personal conversation
• The former boundaries between corporate communication/marketing and team/internal/individual
communication get dissolved
Tensions (2):
Companies in transformation – communication is key

8. 08
Tensions (2):
Companies in transformation – communication is key
▪ "In the long term, of course, we are also concerned
about how this can work. The collaboration, the
teamwork and whether people are motivated to work
together virtually even over long distances.”
▪ "This video telephony is already a good thing, but it
will never replace the personal conversation. We've
noticed that a few times, there's just the short small
talk in the corridor or the coffee somehow, not
replaced by MS teams."
Munich,July20,2020

9. 09
Digitalization push through Corona: Deceleration of leisure vs. acceleration of digitalization
• Everyday working life has changed drastically due to the better exploited online possibilities
• but the increasing overlap of private life and business (e.g. through home office) will become a challenge
in the long term
• More and more decisions are made under uncertainty, even more flexibility and adaptation are necessary
Realities change: Reinforcement of VUCA
● Volatility.
● Uncertainty.
● Complexity.
● Ambiguity.
VUCA
Constant change
Less predictability
Layer blending
Colourful, instead of black and white paths
Tensions (3): The comfort zone is in motion
• Managers feel responsibility to put more emphasis on the individual needs of employees (reflection)
• Bring less hectic, more peace into the everyday life
Humanity in the foreground
Munich,July20,2020

10. 010
Tensions (3): The comfort zone is in motion
▪ "The ways of working have become extremely
digitalized by this Corona story, faster than anyone
would have guessed."
▪ "You have to create options to support each other. If
you want to get through a crisis like this, you not only
have to think 'how do you get through all this
corporate stuff', but at the end of the day you're still
working with a human resource that has needs
beyond work."
Munich,July20,2020

11. 011
Fighting out future power relations: In many industries the winners will be at the top for a long time
• Selection: If you adapt quickly, you stay - the rest goes under
Postponement of investments for cost reasons, even though they are sensible and necessary at this
particular time
• Especially drastic for B2B companies that are directly dependent on other companies
• Possible way out: "Downstream" (Exploration / Development B2C)
Presumably continuous growth of e-commerce
• Importance for the customer: Higher price transparency and comparability of products
• Significance for the market: Shorter product life cycle and greater competition
Tensions (4): Business models under pressure
In summary: "Disruption" at various levels
Munich,July20,2020

12. 012
Tensions (4): Business models under pressure
▪ „I think if you refuse to follow the trends, you will sure
be left behind. To prevent that, you just have to
accept the changes sometimes, to cater for the
development of the new era. And if so, better
positively, willingly than passively.“
Munich,July20,2020

13. 013
In summary:
Crisis alone does not clear the mind – optimism is needed
"There are not only negative upheavals, but also
positive opportunities (...). It's a question of
attitude, whether you see it all as negative or
whether you see the opportunities right away.”
Munich,July20,2020

14. 014
Summary: Out of office
● "The purpose of the crisis is to question the purpose.”
Shaping the future of business.
● A spirit of optimism allows the "new normal" to emerge:
○ The economy gets more emotional.
(individual purpose / the left side of the Wilber quadrants)
○ Personal communication in focus. Relationships get 1:1.
○ Communication spaces work – role of communicators?
○ Power relations change – leadership perceived in a new way.
○ Autonomy creates resilience (e.g. Haier).
• “Learning of the crisis” may remain on the surface:
○ Fast back to profitable growth.
○ The crisis as an accelerator for digitalization.
○ Reduction of discussion to the home office
(announcements of large companies such as Twitter, Siemens).
○ A little more agility will fix the problems.
Now managers are in demand who look ahead with courage, inspiration and optimism
and who, together with their teams, simply implement the business of the future!
Munich,July20,2020

15. 015München,20.Juli2020
Out of office
Participants:
Ashkhen Arakelyan, Franziska Auner, Mira Barry, Julia Berhami, Katharina
Bojahr, Carolin Echterbeck, Laura Glisic, Natascha Hofmann, Alexandra Horn,
Natalie Kuna, Lea Mihaljevic, Laura Müller, Viktoria Niggemann, Moritz Pajonk,
Alexa Pieroth, Fabian Pöschl, Joel Punzmann, Carla Rockenstein, Cindy
Unterkofler, Aline Wuttke, Xinyue Zhao
Dr. Hartmut Hübner
Munich, July 2020

16. 016
For further information and
complete presentation of results?
https://www.hartmuthuebner.com/
E-Mail:
office@hartmuthuebner.com