All along I had a strong feeling that with these lockdowns, the rate of domestic violence and crimes would go up. To my surprise, I recently found that this wave of interrelation conflicts didn’t just strike homes but also the business world. Visiting two of my clients with whom we had established harmonized teams before lockdown, I noticed a change in behavior and performance as some employees seemed to be stressed by this pandemic situation. As employees try to live with the constant uncertainty and the continuous requirement to adapt to new conditions, tensions in relationships become more prominent, and mismatches in personality become more visible. The team members who don’t take full responsibility for their functions create friction and frustrations for those who have to cover for them, which leads to loss of motivation and an unpleasant working atmosphere. On top of that, working remotely demands a higher level of communication. In a normal face to face meeting without masks, one might easily notice when a point is not well understood and address the issue with minimum damage. However, in a remote working situation, one idea that is poorly communicated through email or any other platform might cause latent conflicts or frustrations. And indeed just like a virus, the consequences of conflicts can also be rampant. A poor organization in one company affects other companies working on the same project. This amplifies tensions in the companies causing ineffectiveness and unproductiveness. Fortunately, by walking along and working with managers, some have now been able to get back to their driver’s seat. Solving problems and situations that were pulling them down and making the horizon even clearer. Thus, understanding that employees’ engagement has been shaken by this crisis is key to restoring a clean-cut path to a company’s recovery. The commitment of the business owner to employees remains essential. Surely support within the company should be offered to solve the collateral damages caused by the lockdown but also supporting other companies with which one works with shouldn’t be ignored. No Peace – No Business To read more about business recovery click here

A Google search for the word "uncertainty" in 2017 gave 0.6 million results. For the first ten months of 2018, the same search gave 2.5 million results. On May 11, 2020, I did the same search and had 188 million results. On July 25, I had 209 million. Although uncertainty has been rising over the years, it has worsened with the Covid-19 pandemic. The changes we are experiencing are not a walk in the park for business owners, governments and scientists. For a business to survive, an entrepreneur needs personal clarity, tools for observation and agile actions. This is the approach that will allow him to regain a healthy mindset and thereby certainty. The cost of uncertainty is too high a risk to bear. Let's avoid it. We must do everything to ensure that our businesses are not swept away by this dwindling spiral of uncertainty due to a lack of understanding or even action. I am convinced that the way forward for entrepreneurs should include: - A change in attitude, and to strongly disagree with the growing uncertainty. - Keeping in mind that certainty is something you look forward to, and not something you wait for. Let's plan for a better future. If you are an entrepreneur and you want to plan for a better future for your business, let's meet! (Send me a message or tweet me @SenameAgbossou)