COVID-19 and the resulting stay-at-home orders have challenged the way businesses have traditionally operated. Suddenly, many companies had to adopt remote working arrangements and make other adjustments in order to stay operational. While lockdowns are already slowly being lifted, our experience of the pandemic highlights a very important lesson: organizations must make changes to build their resilience.

Overworking causes people a great amount of stress and anxiety. This, in turn, can lead to an array of medical and mental health problems, and in worst-case scenarios, even death.

And the COVID-19 pandemic is largely seen as an aggravating factor. For many companies, the pandemic didn’t result in a reduction of work; it simply upended the way many employees work, resulting in undue stress.

Anxiety is the body’s natural response to stress. It’s a feeling of unease, apprehension, fear, or worry that accompanies an unfamiliar or potentially dangerous situation, such as giving a speech in front of a crowd or discussing your performance review with your supervisor.

It’s been over a year since the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to implement remote working arrangements, which has worked well for many organizations. They are able to maintain operations and generate income despite stay-at-home orders and strict social restrictions.

The holidays offer a much-needed respite during which employees can relax and forget about work for a few days. Unfortunately, this wonderful time of the year has come to an end. Employees had to return to reality and deal with a mountain of backlogs and an inbox swamped with emails.

While remote working has been a steadily growing trend the world over, it was the pandemic that tipped the scale and drove businesses to enforce remote work arrangements en masse. This shift happened abruptly, and in most cases, organizations had very little time to plan.

Staying productive has been a challenge to remote workers the world over, and that’s not surprising. Between a pandemic in full swing, the worldwide economy in a steep contraction, and a workforce adjusting to remote work, stress levels will inevitably increase.

On June 24, the state of North Carolina decided to extend its stay-at-home order until August 7, pushing businesses to continue powering their operations via a remote workforce. The good news is that North Carolina ranks ninth among the best states for working remotely.

Remote working is seeing an unprecedented rise across the United States, as post-COVID-19 workplaces turn to more agile business strategies that ensure business continuity. But adapting to a work from home arrangement can be difficult, especially for employees who have worked in physical offices all their lives.

There are many key roles in a company but none more so than that of managing people and workflows. And among this group is a role with a seemingly overwhelming set of responsibilities — the operations manager, sometimes known as a chief operating officer (COO). Let’s clarify what an operations manager does and how important they are to a business’s expansion.