Those who don’t adapt fast will definitely be left behind: MA Parthasarthy, Mindshare South Asia

• Amidst the Covid-19 lockdown, organizations are getting creative to keep their employees motivated. Mindshare is organising music concerts, talent shows, happy hours, yoga sessions and training programs to help people cope, and feel connected.
• MA Parthasarthy talks about the challenges of being a leader, why the lockdown should be looked at as an opportunity, and how innovation and creativity can help organisations row through the tough waters smoothly.

As a leader of an organization, it is important to keep your employees motivated and help them surf through the rough times smoothly.

Before the Coronavirus outbreak, leadership was about bringing home more revenue than the previous quarter and fostering innovation. However, after Coronavirus (AC), the focus has shifted a bit. Today it’s about trying to keep organisations together, avoiding cost cutting, ensuring smooth communication, navigating unprecedented changes, dealing with client demands, and avoiding operational issues while being locked in a box. They are posed with challenges that are beyond their leadership muscles.

In these tough times, Mindshare South Asia’s CEO, MA Parthasarthy reminds us how ‘necessity is the mother of invention and those who don’t adapt fast will be left behind.’ He says the lockdown should be looked at as an opportunity, it will drive some permanent changes in the ecosystem and those who innovate will survive.

Parthasarthy further shared a few policies that Mindshare has introduced to maintain a healthy work environment albeit remote and virtual. On a personal front, he is breaking the tension by reading Yuval Noah Harari to watching light comedies, from PG Wodehouse, Andhadhun to Andaaz Apna Apna.

Excerpts:

The lockdown comes with its limitations. How are you helping your employees to stay motivated?

These are certainly difficult times for our people. More than the physical difficulty, it is the uncertainty about how to get work done, family, safety and so on. In these times, motivation is both a function of what the organization does for people, and what the people do by themselves. We are fortunate to have a bunch of highly motivated people who have devised multiple ways to stay motivated – music concerts, talent shows, happy hours, yoga sessions and training programs are just some of the initiatives they have devised themselves. From the organization side, we have tried to minimise the friction by ensuring access to technology and connectivity as well as some streamlined processes that help them get the most of their efforts.

How are you taking care of your own mental health?

I feel the biggest cause of mental stress is the absence of a clear routine and the blurring of work and life. I try to maintain my work routine as best as possible. A walk within the compound in the morning helps clear the head, and a bit of reading before bed relaxes as well. It is critical to get some time away from the screen.

With domestic responsibilities & work pressures coming at people in parallel, there is very little room to ‘Switch off’. I feel the biggest challenge in remote working is, therefore, the absence of a routine. I personally ensure a constant start time to work every day, at least 30 minutes of exercise and some time at dinner with the family where the phone is turned off. Also, the data & wifi connection is shut before going to bed. We encourage everyone to do the same.

What is the need of the hour, for agencies and media platforms, to navigate the current situation frictionlessly?

I think the entire ecosystem – be it agencies, media partners, or clients – are trying to be as innovative and adaptive as possible to manage this never-before event. There are new solutions being created every day – new formats of content, new approaches to touchpoints, new packages and so on. Necessity is truly the mother of invention in these times, and those who don’t adapt fast will definitely be left behind.

How is Mindshare doing things differently after the lockdown and adapting to these unprecedented days?

This is partly answered in the questions above. In addition, we have the advantage of a huge and diverse global network to draw upon. We are constantly looking for pointers and success stories from markets like China who have been through this before us. We are preparing multiple scenarios for ourselves and our clients for the lockdown period, as well as for the period of recovery ahead. Some of the changes which happen now will be permanent, and some of those will actually be beneficial for us in the long run if we adapt ourselves around them.

Your three tips to people to help them get their creative juices flowing despite being isolated at home.

Call people you haven’t spoken to for ages – batchmates, ex-colleagues, relatives… find out what’s been happening in their lives. A great source of insights!

Do something new – sing, pick up an instrument, watch a film in another language or by a director you have never seen before, try a new exercise routine… this is an opportunity! Try a different work spot within your house every day.

What are your top three content/book recommendations (This could include movies, web series, documentaries and books)

Anything that can set you thinking or set you laughing – Yuval Noah Harari to PG Wodehouse, Andhadhun to Andaaz Apna Apna. As a Kamal Hassan fan, any of his brilliant Tamil comedies in collaboration with Crazy Mohan.