One of our WLI Circles group met virtually this week. Their conversation touched on a lot of hot “COVID-19” topics; primarily how members of the Circle personally been handling this new normal, and how it’s impacted their daily work activities, productivity, business development, and communication with co-workers and supervisors. Several women in the group have experienced a slow-down in development/design/construction due to investors being skiddish on the economy/reviewing agencies switching to a remote-work format/safety concerns with construction workers contracting the virus. 

Everyone has adapted in their own ways and also discussed how communication from our company’s leaders has differed – from [deafening] radio silence on what their plans are on handling operations and the future of the company to daily “end of the day” e-mail updates with inspiring messages and new business pursuits and opportunities. Also, the group talked about how they can remain engaged with other industry professionals during this time, and the new virtual business development format (ULI virtual Happy Hours!).

The call wrapped up with an intro discussion on how to handle professional development and career advancement amid the uncertainty of our company’s health or general industry uncertainty. The conversation was so engaging, they ran out of time so they decided to use this topic as the basis of their next meeting.

The group looks forward to planning their next catch-up next month.