The Aftermath of COVID-19: A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

By Roben Allong, CEO, Lightbeam Communications Corp., New York, NY, robena@lightbeamnyc.com

By the time you read this, I hope the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has passed for many locations across the globe. The last pandemic the world faced of this magnitude was in 1918, over one hundred years ago. This year, the research industry (like many others) has had to face serious challenges, both collectively as businesses and individually as solopreneurs or practitioners. Many are facing hard times with budget cuts and the loss of jobs, projects, staff, clients, and revenue. Anxiety is still high. It might be higher as the economy reboots. COVID-19 has impacted the way we live, work, play, eat, communicate, connect, and all those things that make us human. However, despite being under siege, we found ways to reboot too, connecting with ourselves, our loved ones, and helping our communities like never before.

Did you know that the first recorded notion of American volunteerism was logged in the early 1700s with Benjamin Franklin, who founded the first volunteer firehouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania? His idea was to help the local community. While the COVID-19 pandemic has changed us all, it also brought out the best in us. We voluntarily supported the vulnerable among us: the elderly, children who had no meals while school was closed, first responders, and delivery and service workers. Even big global brands were among the first to pitch in to make much-needed face masks, hand sanitizers, and ventilators.

So, what does this notion of volunteering have to do with your business? Helping others is the bedrock of QRCA and its members. As quallies, our job is to make that real human connection. We help our clients connect and empathize with their customers. We help our profession uncover the nuances that make us human and help our fellow researchers build communities.

While we perceive volunteerism to be about helping others in need, it also offers us an opportunity for transformation. Yes, transformation! Volunteering helps you through the mission of helping others to look beyond, to learn and discover new abilities, capacities, emotions, and strengths that you didn’t know you had. It’s transformative. It generates insights and creates a sense of hope for the future. Therein lies the crux of this article, transforming forward in hard times by giving back. The values and benefits of volunteerism have endured in spite of COVID-19, which has forced us into a new normal. Interestingly, it has sparked research colleagues to have interactions with people they might have never met if not for this circumstance, with new experiences on Zoom video calls, to keep learning about diverse audiences, communities and cultures, while providing stress and anxiety release. You help yourself when you help others.