(Bakarya.id)

Physical events during the Covid-19 pandemic have hit rock-bottom these days, and one of the affected activities caused by it was a social movement. Back then when our life was running normally, it was quite usual for us to see someone to start a campaign or project, either to spread awareness, help those in need, persuade people to join a positive activity, or many that you could name. But now the situation has changed, and people have started to adapt. Lots of people are now used to attending or holding online events, with the same purpose and output of the offline meetings could do.

With the arrival of new normal, a group of XLFL awardees, led by Azza Meyrisqa from XL Future Leaders Batch 8 Makassar, has started an online movement @Bakarya.id. Starting with a simple purpose of informing people about Covid-19 prevention. Now, it has grown into a platform that has reached a thousand followers inviting students and youths to become more productive by giving awesome support through their post. Take their “7 Hari Bercerita” campaign for an example. It had encouraged all the followers to write stories of their own with a given topic and made it to the next level as a competition. Another program that they made was “Ecobrick Workshop” where the participants didn’t only learn the knowledge behind it but were also invited to make one via a conference call.

But, is it true that handling a team where you meet them eyes-to-eyes is different from meeting them online? Azza expressed that it is actually not as hard as people might expect. She set up a day in a week where everyone discusses what they have achieved throughout the conference call. As for performance tracking, she prefers to do a personal approach by approaching the head of the division, discussing for updates. To not bind the creativity of each team, she also let the head of divisions to create their own job desk along with the members. Giving a chance for everyone to give their opinions and ideas.

Just like any other team management, problems and conflicts can arise in between. And to prevent it from being prolonged, Azza creates a supporting environment in her team. Whenever a meeting is being conducted, she and her teammates try to break the ice, forming a friendly atmosphere. In her journey, feeling the ups and downs are now becoming regular. To cope with that, initiating to talk with other members and share the burdens can uplift her motivation back again. The fact is managing a team online has its own challenge, not always. So, applying change management is important and definitely needing a key role to handle this challenge.

Azza’s task as the program leader still continues, she hopes that more and more impactful programs can be executed soon in the near future. One of the steps that she has planned is to collaborate with various organizations and media partners. Facing this Covid-19 pandemic and the new normal are not excuses for us not to produce impactful activities nor simply doing nothing but learning. Being productive is one of the many choices that we can make, but if we can even invite others to join the force, trust then the impact will be much bigger. Let’s make sure things we know won’t stop in us, won’t stop in me nor you! Share it more, apply it even more!

 

Written by Muhammad Hafizh Mushawwir – XLFL Batch 7