The professional world is constantly changing, but this change is particularly radical in crisis situations. How to get long-term job and Income to back up?

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Rapid management of change management thanks to the corona crisis

the coronaCrisis brought a lot to light that had been fermenting subliminally for a long time, especially the lack of digital structures in everyday working life, keyword home office challenge, as well as in the Education, only made themselves felt as major omissions. The demands to be met in our everyday working lives have increased.

The working world and also the Everyday life have changed completely and radically for many in a moment. This rapid change required new skills from all of us: we had to fast and learn a lot, but at the same time a multitude of Tasks manage.

Challenge or overwhelming?

And for many People This raises the question: How do we best deal with this change? Can it be done at all or do we overstrain ourselves limitlessly? And how do we secure our existence in the long term?

Some time ago we were here on Best of HR - Berufebilder.de® debates whether humans can even multitask—and our readers have concluded that it is, at the very least, difficult. It is very similar to mine Opinions with the new requirements that the change in the working world is confronting us with in many professions.

Always new skills?

To illustrate this, I would like to illustrate the changes based on my own previous job, because I know it better than anyone else. And because it had to change rapidly as part of the digital transformation, since it was affected by these changes very early on: the Job of the journalist. He has, so to speak, already anticipated the disruption of many other areas.

The change in media required journalists, who were already working under precarious working conditions to earn their livelihood, a multitude of new skills: Instead of just writing or just filming, they should suddenly offer a mixed media package: writing, editing, photos, videos and, best of all new formats like audio slideshows. There were also various weaving techniques.

Changing professional worlds: 7 concrete tips for dealing with a changed situation

This is not supposed to be a lament to the situation of journalism. Just raise the question of what it actually means to deal with new situations. The question that I keep asking myself: can anyone cope with such radical changes in requirements? Which psychological tools are necessary for this? And how can you adapt to the situation?

The answers to these Ask would like to give the following 7 points, which are based on my more than 15 years of experience as a self-employed person.

1. Why do I have this job at all?

First of all you should ask yourself: Why do I have this job? And how can I actively change it? I became a journalist myself because I wanted to write. Best books. That's what I did - and in search of marketing strategies I started blogging and got more and more involved with it Internet too busy.

The original activity, writing, then took more and more of a back seat in my work, and new skills became more important: basic knowledge of HTML, PHP and CSS, to mine ideas also technically implement it for the blog. Search engine optimization to better market my blog. Instead of acquiring individual orders from classic media, I opted for direct ones Contact to readers and sponsors.

At times I was also busy learning how to create and edit videos in order to be able to Online-Format of Future to be prepared – the multimedia journalist sends his regards as a jack of all trades.

2. Do something you can push

The Art in the change is that you don't reinvent yourself radically every time, but build on something you already know how to do. I got this advice from Alibaba-Executive Jack Mae learned. Rather, one should build on something that one can already do. In fact, at some point I gave up the video track and returned to my roots, the books, by founding my own book publishing company. When I look back at my path over the past ten years, I am now quite happier with my business model than with the original idea of ​​writing books and offering editorial work.

The main reason is that by running and marketing a well-performing medium myself, I clear I have greater independence than is generally the case in the traditional journalistic business model: if a topic interests me, then I can simply do it. And often enough, topics then find their way into the traditional media via my blog. I'm also much more independent financially than with the traditional order-awarding system.

In short: The change in the world of work challenges me again and again, but by letting myself in and becoming the egg-laying wool milk sow, it has brought me many advantages.

3. Together you are stronger

However, I also view the current development in the world of work with a certain skepticism. A while ago I wrote provocatively at carta.info that the clumsy publishers can learn a lot from freelance journalists - a contribution that was later published in the book] ”Journalism in Digital Modernity”. Today I still see it that lone fighters are able to react much more flexibly to new requirements.

However, lone fighters are also ships in the wind. The structures of the big publishers may be cumbersome, but they provide a certain security. For example, with the numerous legal pitfalls that are currently lurking on the Internet. And also what the Financing When it comes to new projects, you always have better cards with a big name behind you.

The Solution this is to join forces with others, to form networks and rope teams and thus to convince everyone together. However, it is also important that you share common values ​​and common ones Set pursued - you have to check that accordingly.

4. Against the excessive demands of the individual

Another one Problem is the overtaxing of the individual in the face of almost unsolvable problems. This is also evident in the Corona crisis, in which working people Women suddenly mastering housework and home office.

But also from a technical point of view, growing demands can quickly lead to personal overwhelming: As a journalist and blogger, for example, today you are a writer, editor, web designer, filmmaker and marketer in one. No one can do so many specializations with the necessary expertise. Of course you can consult specialists; but especially if you want to create something new and at this point in time you don't have any enthusiastic cooperation partners who help build the thing with additional skills, then you try to do a lot yourself at the beginning.

5. Investing in the future

And finally, you have to consider the necessary investments in the future, eg in the Technology: Of course, you usually have a computer or laptop. However, if you don't just want to write on train journeys or while waiting at the airport, but also want to edit pictures and cut videos, there are suddenly completely different requirements for the working memory and graphics card of a mobile device.

The way food is selection I didn't like my camera light: It should take good photos, but also have an external microphone connection and be light - that can quickly become a problem Money go if you haven't quite for sure is whether you really want to move in this direction. It helped me a lot that I had various Companys Have provided test devices with which I was able to test the range of functions.

6. No longer stand in your way

Despite the obviously difficult conditions: Often there is also the fact that many people stand in the way of changes themselves. In the Corona crisis, for example, this could be observed in large companies that slavishly stuck to their old business models.

But I also know that in journalism, where many colleagues, older and younger alike, are more or less slavish to the old one Concept “Editorial vs. supplying freelance journalist” instead of rethinking and developing your own ideas. And print is still the non-plus-ultra for many, the internet only second Choice, even for an alarming number of young journalists. Debt one of the reasons for this is the way journalists are trained in Germany – namely, often still in the traditional way.

7. Education - the basics have to be right

But in the end it also depends on whether the Basics of the individual votes on how to overcome the crisis. Anyone who has had the appropriate training and is well connected will find it easier to get back on their feet in the end.

I would like to use the example of journalists again: They learn to program apps and programs, for example, while studying journalism, as a journalistProfessor betrayed - even if he wasn't sure if it was at all useful is that educational institutions jump on “fast-moving hypes” in such a way. On the other hand, what is still often neglected in training is entrepreneurial thinking and Marketing – Skills that are essential to survive in the competition.

Conclusion: This is how we create change

The question of how and whether we can master crisis situations and cope with the new requirements is not easy to answer. But it is precisely at this point that it depends on whether we can secure our professional and financial existence in the future.

On the one hand, it depends a lot on the framework conditions, but also to a large extent on the personal attitude of the individual - and on his ability to deal with the constantly changing circumstances. An important point, however, is a contemporary training and education Further Training; and this problem is far from only affecting journalists.