Zooming in or perceiving the situation around us allows us to see reality in different way. We could move away and from distance look at our organization, our role, and factors that affect the business. On the other hand, zooming in of what we observe allows us to be closer to the system in which we work, as well as to achieve a faster impact.

There is no recipe for when to use zoom in or out – or when we look at things clearly, zoomed in, and when we don’t – it’s more a matter of feeling and experience in management.

I believe that you cannot be a successful manager if you only support one option – you either micromanage or you are immersed in strategy.

COVID-19 crisis is the right moment to keep your finger on the zoom in command, that is to keep things and the entire work process under control. The crisis requires managers to be rational and focused. It is important to define a battle that should be won. What is really important in this moment for the functioning of a company?

For a global pharmaceutical company, the answer is simple. It’s important to ensure that all medicines are present all the time in pharmacies. In times of problematic production and international transport, millions of patients around the planet are aware that they can count on reliability and availability of therapy. The thing that we are ”watering” as managers is growing. There where you pay attention and invest time – you send a strong message to employees on what is important and what is less important in times of crisis.

Once we have defined the priority in our work, perhaps it is the right time to turn on the zoom out command, that is, to look sideways at the organization you lead as well as yourself in the organization. In such order of things, the organization looks like a classical music orchestra. Well-defined processes where everything is planned and is acknowledged who is doing what. Is there a deviation from the budget and how should your react? There are well-known mechanisms of response. It’s important to feel the moment when such organization should be in operation but also when to pass on the leadership to a different orchestra.

In management we sometimes require improvisation, without trying to make everything understandable. Just like in a small jazz orchestra. The role of the executive is to convey complete trust to the team he works with. Trust without hesitation. To call them and ask how are they doing and to let them play jazz and improvise. Practically it looks like this: let’s indulge in the sounds of jazz, someone from the team will take over the leadership and then other employee will take over the soloing…It is important that everyone in the orchestra knows what they want. There’s no need to fear whether the authority will be exceeded or the processes will not be respected. There is no such thing with sincere mutual trust.

Crises come and go. With them comes economic decline and economic growth after them. You need to turn on the zoom out button again, see the bigger picture and think about organization and market after the crisis. It is important to visualize the low start of all employees after the crisis and bring in the necessary energy when the market demands and allows it. (“Nedeljnik”, May 2020)