Wendy Evans (wendy.w.evans@lmco.com) is a Senior Manager of Ethics Core Programs & Services at Lockheed Martin in Orlando, Florida, USA.

Remember the good old days, when you grabbed a cup of coffee, ran out the door, and sat in your car on the expressway for half an hour before briskly walking through the glass front doors of your office? You smiled as you greeted your team, tucked neatly into cubicles and hard at work by 8 a.m.

Then came COVID-19. The conference room was replaced with Zoom. Dining room tables became desks. The quick cubicle chat became an instant message conversation. You think to yourself, “How are my employees? Of course they are working, but how do I know what they are doing?”

You are not alone. The truth is our workplace was already evolving with new technology platforms and a new generation of employees who are adept at weaving career commitments in and out of busy personal lives. In reality, they were already working late hours and early mornings but placing a higher priority on work-life balance.

One might make the case that COVID-19 pushed us at exponential speed into this already-evolving work environment. We will never operate as we did in the past. Brick and mortar have been overtaken by the digital and virtual. In these virtual environments, some interesting dilemmas emerge as leaders seek innovative ways to engage and manage their teams:

• How often should I check in with my employees?

• What does a check-in look like?

• Have my expectations changed? Have their expectations changed?

• How do I measure employee performance?

Change invigorates, but it can also be a source of tremendous fatigue and uncertainty for everyone on your team. Most leaders want to fix problems as soon as they arise; a sort of professional whack-a-mole, to coin an idiom. Adapting means taking a breath, reassessing the environment, and changing plans or protocols as needed. Adaptation in leadership, in particular, is an ongoing way of operating. It fosters agility and creative thinking, and it just may take your team to a whole new level.