​Dear readers

I sincerely hope that all of you are staying healthy and well not only physically and mentally, but emotionally as well.

These are trying times where patience is tested, new ways are learnt quickly, and most importantly, adaptability is key.

Most people face various issues when it comes to working from home regardless of whether they have children or not. They seem to be more distracted and many who are usually capable, tend to slip into a downward spiral at times.

Patience, tolerance, and kindness are key. To be honest, I have been doing my best but sometimes, it does get frustrating and try as I may to be a good leader, the stress of not having your top performers working the way they usually do has made me try to see how best to deal with it.

Why am I talking about this? Simple. This issue is about the future of work and with Covid-19, everything has accelerated quickly. Never have I had so many back to back meetings in a day, let alone on a daily basis. I have seen how different services like banks for example, deal with customers on both fronts, individual customers and businesses, in an entirely different way as discussed in one of the articles.

We also look at how human resources and even public relations have been disrupted by the future of work.

I myself have seen how my other portfolio, the library, has had to adapt and find ways around being an accessible library even more so now than ever. Given that two-thirds of my team have been doing the same things for at least 20 years up to last year when I became the head librarian, I am very proud at how they have worked hard and persevered to adapt to the new work styles, albeit with lots of trials and tribulations which are unavoidable during one's accelerated learning curve.

We discuss other aspects in this issue too though as always, we keep our eye on topics related to our theme.

Do check out the book review videos found on the Management360 (m360.sim.edu.sg) site that my team have put together too, one of my ways of developing new skills for my team which I am very proud of as well. These will be frequently shared on a weekly basis.

I sincerely hope that things get better soon as the economies worldwide are suffering greatly and job retrenchments are sadly imminent. I wish you and your families good health.

Excelsior!
Sadie-Jane