The New Normal of Remote Work (and Why You Should Follow the NFL’s Lead)

Posted by Christopher Dwyer on April 21st, 2020
Stored in Articles, Chief Procurement Officers, Complex Categories, Strategy

Last week, during Ardent’s What the Pandemic Means for Your Workforce session (part of the CPO2K20 Resiliency Imperative virtual series), I mentioned that one of the three major ramifications of the current health crisis was the transformation of how work is done. All businesses need to operate in some fashion to survive, and, virtual and remote work is the number-one means to continuing to get work done during a period of social distancing and sheltering-in-place.

Sports across the world have seen their seasons cut short, postponed, or canceled outright. In fact, both the NBA and NHL were careening towards the last few games of their respective regular seasons before the playoffs started. (Personal note: one amazing, year-over-year experience for me is catching basketball and hockey playoff games in hotel rooms during the typically-busy spring conference season.)

While the MLB has yet to kick off its 2020 season (rumors persist that “no attendance” games could be played in Arizona if specific medical protocols, such as testing, are a baseline), the NFL has marched forward, attempting to keep its 2020 season timeline in place, albeit with some major tweaks to its normal offseason schedule.

The biggest (and, perhaps, most important) phase of the football offseason is the NFL Draft, the annual spectacle that was originally scheduled to be held in Las Vegas beginning later this week. The NFL executive team decided to keep the draft on its normal timeline (which can be understandable from the perspective of, “Hey, at least it’s something “live” instead of the classic games now airing across all major sports platforms”), forcing general managers, coaches, and scouts to operate a normal pre-draft set of operations via remote or virtual technology.

Holding a draft remotely in which 32 teams text or email their picks to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (who will announce said picks from his home on live television) doesn’t seem like such a complex project, does it? Well, on the surface, no. But peel back the operational components around the draft and the processes that are part of every team’s pre-draft preparations, and, boom, you realize just how intricate all of this truly is:

  • Many highly-touted college players have the ability to hold “pro days” where teams can send scouts to evaluate in-person. These were, of course, canceled, forcing teams to leverage remote and virtual methods of evaluating prospects, such as video-based workouts, pre-recorded workout sessions, etc. Physical examinations also occur during these pro days, which are critical in determining the relative health of prospects who may have collegiate injury histories.
  • Pre-draft interviewing is a key process in evaluating players, especially considering the long-term investments made in draft picks (with even more emphasis on those picks closer to the top of the draft). Coaches (including position coaches and general managers) often grill prospects regarding not only their “football IQ,” but other aspects related to the “soft skills” we chat about often in Ardent’s Future of Work research (i.e. positive attitude, critical thinking, collaborative/communication skills, etc.).
  • Each individual NFL team has its own respective “war room,” in which head coaches, positional coaches, scouts, and team general managers (and other personnel) gather together with a literal “big board” of its prospect targets. Due to social distancing measures, the NFL has mandated that team personnel conduct all draft activity from their home offices.

As stated above, it’s relatively simple to make a pick, text it to the commissioner, and move onto preparing for the next selection. However, all of the complex and resource-heavy groundwork must be conducted in a virtual manner…no easy feat.

Businesses around the globe today are feeling this immense pressure, as well. How do core business operations run without the safety and consistency of the traditional, physical office structure? How do leaders plan, manage, and strategize around their core goals and operations in a remote environment? And, more importantly, what’s the best way to manage a remote and productive workforce? Join Ardent Partners and Toptal this Thursday April 23rd (2pm ET) for a complimentary webcast that will educate businesses on the best ways to effectively manage a remote team and thrive in a new, digital environment. During this session, which is a part of our CPO Rising 2K20 Virtual Series, I’ll be joined by Toptal’s VP of Talent Operations, Christy Schumann, for a lively discussion of “The Three Pillars of Managing a Remote and Productive Workforce” (click to register).

There are key lessons to be learned from what the NFL is going through as it prepares for the league’s first-ever virtual draft. While not every business has the war chest of finances that the NFL has (for example, Commissioner Goodell allegedly spent $10,000 (or more) to upgrade his wi-fi and related technology in preparation for the draft), the league has provided us with some affirmations of how to adjust to this new normal of remote work:

  • There is always a way around the lack of in-person communication. Let it be said that there is no 100% replacement for the power and value of in-person communication; that is a given in the world today. However, there is incredible merit in harnessing unified communications, from video conferencing software to chat/messaging applications, to build the next best form of in-person relationships. If the NFL can evaluate prospects remotely and make major draft capital investments based on that information, businesses can reimagine how they share, collect, and distribute information to their teams. Both casual communication (like one-on-ones and “open kitchen chats”) and more formal meetings can all be moved to a virtual format to encourage collaboration.
  • Throughout this period of uncertainty, maintaining organizational culture is critical. It’s not an ideal situation, that much is understood. However, the companies that can maintain more than a semblance of its overall culture within a remote or virtual environment will find that the transition will be much, much less painful. Too, the positivity and energy that can be “carried over” from pre-remote days can be incredibly powerful in rallying team members in striving for organizational goals, and, most importantly, continuing to get work done.
  • This is what we’re dealing with right now and it’s a hard reality, so let’s just “go for it.” Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll (who we in New England will always thank for the decision to throw the ball at the end of Super Bowl 49) has the right mentality here. “We’re just going for it, just as the draft is coming up,” he told SiriusXM NFL radio. “We are competing like crazy right now to make sense of how to do this remotely. We’re all doing it. You’re going to see our version, whether we’re ready or not. In our mentality of it, we’re battling.”

Click here to register for Thursday’s session. Don’t miss it!

CPO RISING 2K20 VIRTUAL SERIES – UPCOMING SESSIONS Instead of our typical related research section, we are inviting our readers to investigate our new virtual series, CPO Rising 2K20 – The Resiliency Imperative. Click on the session titles below to learn more and register for them – or visit this site regularly as new sessions are still being added.

VIRTUAL SUMMIT:

May 7 11: am – 2:00 pm ET – The CPO Rising 2K20 Virtual Summit – The Resiliency Imperative – Registration Page

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