Remote work continues to be a hot topic as COVID subsides in many regions of the world and companies attempt to call their employees back into the office. The issue is that many employees, specifically those classified as “knowledge workers” are resisting.

As we move quickly toward the end of 2021 the pressure is on for sales teams to meet annual goals. But often the tactics that we use to drive sales (fuel….such as incentives, pricing deals and other “carrots”) actually increase buyer resistance….or friction.

After a year of missing out on events, business travel and, for a lot of folks, a load of new revenue, it can be easy to scream “YES” at every opportunity thrown your way.

As in many industries, hybrid and remote work are the new normal for marketing tech/services and insights professionals. With this “new normal” many of our traditional business models are being challenged.

Although the business environment of less travel and face to face meetings and more (much much more) videoconferencing persists, it also presents companies with unparalleled opportunities to hire talent in locations they may not have considered in pre-COVID times, where working from a centralized office was the norm.

Lately we’ve been coaching a number of Founders struggling with rejection. Whether it’s losing business to a competitor, pitching a Venture Capital firm for funding and receiving a “not interested”, or losing key employees who jump ship for another firm we can likely all agree that rejection isn’t an awesome feeling.

This past week Bumble, the dating app where women are in charge of making the first move, made headline news when it temporarily closed all of its offices to combat workplace stress. Its 700 staff worldwide were told to switch off and focus on themselves. Why now?

After over a year of lockdown in most regions of the world, many countries (and thus offices) are re-opening. In addition, many companies are experiencing a post-pandemic jump in business, which, although welcome and long awaited, is also presenting its own set of challenges for many employees (in the form of stress!) after a prolonged period of isolation and a significantly slower pace of work.