KORONAKRISEN
KORONAKRISEN
My crisis with the corona virus
and the positive change in
program management
BY MARC WIDMANN
Summary
The article examines how working in programs
has changed due to the exclusively virtual way of
working. Special attention is paid to the changes
in governance, working methods and perception
of hierarchy in the company. This contribution is
accompanied by a survey on some hypotheses
on the future of leadership especially under the
aspect of distributed work in order to support or
reject these hypotheses. Nevertheless, I will try to
formulate some future prognoses on this subject
already now. The article wants to give some hints
which experiences we should in any case take
with us into the “new normality” and thus firmly
anchor them in our way of working. People and
companies who do not learn and adapt from this
crisis and only want to return to a supposed old
normality will fail in the future.
Flashback
On March 2nd I did not go to North Rhine-Westphalia
like every week before, because I had cold
symptoms and since a few weeks the corona
virus was on everyone’s lips, also in our program.
So I thought it would be appropriate not to endanger
my colleagues in the project and planned one
week of remote work. Thought, done. Being one
of the few “local” colleagues not to be on site, as
expected, led to a lot of more time being spent
for work, as now much had to be done via team
video call. And this in planned meetings, which
was perhaps previously easily clarified across the
desk. In the course of that week, my company
decided to stop all non-essential business trips
and let me work exclusively from my home office.
What can I say, the next few weeks were pure
stress, because all the meetings, which were pre-
24 PROSJEKTLEDELSE • NR. 3 2020