TOPIC Much has been written and researched regarding Emotional Intelligence. Behavioral characteristics associated with this categorization of intelligence are broad and equally well-defined. The...

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IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON WORKPLACE
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
The main purpose of the assignment is to introduce the people to the virtual groups and showcase how these virtual groups came as a savior for the business houses by resolving several issues that was faced by the company right from the start of the pandemic. The virtual group were formed and implemented in use by the companies to manage these groups and to get the work done by the members efficiently several challenges were faced by the leaders. The assignment focuses on brief about the several issues that were felt by the leaders during maintaining the virtual groups and getting the work done through it. The group functioned to carry on the prescribed work assigned to them their performance is analyzed as per the Tuckman’s group stages which shows how efficiently the performance was portrayed by the group members.
Though the whole process was a very hectic and an unimaginable one but the process give rise to certain positivity for the organization which include the several leadership characteristics portrayed by every group members which make the work quite easier for the organization and has several impact on the group performance. The leadership characteristics portrayed by the group members is discussed in brief in the assignment. The work become little tough for the leaders to carry on as the different group members have different learning styles and the leaders have to make several approach to get the information delivered. The assignment focuses and sheds light on all the points discussed over here
Introduction
The leaders in an organization or at the workplace are the pillar of support for the team, the leaders as well as the organization tend to resolve all the issues prevailing in the organization with the employees. Earlier the leaders use to work at the same workplace with their team but the recent COVID situation has changed the whole scenario as the workplace has gone from offline to the online. And the real world in which the employees tend to work has shifted to the virtual world, which is a complete changed scenario considering the work. The whole situation has increased the role of the leaders as the leaders have to showcase their emotional intelligence concerning to the work condition where they have to carry on the self-awareness, empathy, self-management, relationship management and an sheer effective communication with their employees to support them and analyze their situation as per the recent change in the work environment.
Impact of COVID-19 on Workplace
The COVID-19 has impacted the workplace of the people adversely though it has opened the door for several new techniques and options for the organizations but still there are some implications on which much work is required. The post COVID world would be a complete different world as it would not only focus on the employee wellness but also on the efficiency, speed and cost effectiveness (MONGA, 2020). While the Covid-19 pandemic ranges its impact on all over the world, the whole world goes on a lockdown in order to prevent the further spread of the virus, which has stopped the movement of the people all around the world and the work from home module became a mandatory situation in almost every organization. The physical interaction and the collaboration of the people as well as the business meetings were shifted to online meetings and call over several internet platform. It was a tough call for the organizations as well as the employees to manage the situation as they have never ever imagined a situation like this in their past as a result neither they were aware nor trained to carry on with the situation with an ease (Kaushik & Guleria, 2020).
    The work from home which became a mandate process within the organizations shifted the whole business from the offline to online. A whole virtual setup is created on which the whole day to day activities which used to be carried in the offices offline now get conducted virtually. The virtual process came as a life saver for the organizations as the complete lockdown in almost all the parts of the world left the whole business world into worry. The meetings that were used to be conducted offline by the physical interaction of the employees and customer now is held online on several sites that includes google meet, skype and many more. The team meetings or the board meetings which were earlier held in the meeting room or the board room were replaced by the online group meetings (Hamouche, 2020). The virtual groups are created and the staffs discusses their views, points as well as the ideas on it that they used to do earlier. This was one of the best available option to combat the difficulties faced by the companies during the lockdown. From interacting with the customers to discussing the marketing plan everything shifted to the virtual sites and over the call (Li, Ghosh & Nachmias, 2020).
    The whole situation was smooth and a bit easy for those who were following the guidelines but for the leaders who were managing the whole situation instructing the teams it was an utter serious challenge. In the virtual groups the role of the leadership become much more important than what it was used to be in the regular offline offices (Kupa, 2020). In the virtual teams the roles and functions of the leadership is necessary to improve the performance of the team as well as ensure the success. They also need to ensure that the social and material resources of the team members are met so that they can achieve their goals successfully. The leaders has to possess the emotional intelligence characteristics which they usually did not portray in the normal mode. In the whole process several challenges occurs in front of the leaders which they need to resolve in order to ensure a smooth run of the business (Alotebi, Alharbi & Masmali, 2018).
    Some of the most initial challenges faced by them includes geography and isolation, as all of the members operate from the different parts and are isolated from each other they lack the bond which they have during physical interaction, the managers should ensure that the team did not lack the bonding with each other. The major challenge is the communication, in the virtual environment effective communication is the key player in the team interaction to manage the effective communication regarding the work related issues and discussions (Maduka, Edwards, Greenwood, Osborne & Babatunde, 2018). The leaders have to ensure there is not any communication gap between the team members and the team. Technology is also a challenge for the leaders as they have to decide the most suitable technological platform on which all the meetings and discussions of the teams could be carried on. Maintaining the security of the data and motivating the employees to perform well are among the challenges faced by the leaders during maintaining the work in the virtual environment (Han, Chae, Macko, Park & Beyerlein, 2017).
The Functioning of the group according to the Tuckman’s Group Stages
During the Covid-19 lockdown the work from home system was adopted and the system is still prevailing in many parts of the world as the COVID is not over yet and most of the companies are going with the work from home process. The group of the company functioned smoothly as per the stages involved in the Tuckman group stages. The Tuckman model of group development includes the step forming-storming-norming-performing. And in the COVID the virtual groups of the company effectively follows the step.
Forming
During this stage, the group is still developing as the whole format is new for the employees and they have not been trained regarding the following situation. The group members are highly dependent on the leaders for the proper guidance and direction. Channelizing the whole fact there is a little agreement on each team aim, and all the group members actively looks to the leader. For the time being there is a lack of proper trust between the team members but the things are changing and a strong bond is forming between the team members as the time passes. But as the process is very new and the team members are not much used to the process and the roles and responsibility assigned to the members are not much clear to them as in the normal format they use to handle and implement their work differently. The forming stage would be developed with the passing time as with the passing time the bonding between the team members would be stronger and the team would get well versed with the direction and purpose required for the success of the company (Kiweewa, Gilbride, Luke & Clingerman,...