Virtual Leadership in Small Businesses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract

The Covid19 pandemic has posed new challenges for leaders in both large and small businesses because of the new health measures that has forced people to work remotely to prevent the spread of the virus. This has led to organizations having to be managed virtually which brings with it its own set of challenges, especially for those who are unfamiliar with technology and used to face to face interaction. This is especially so for small businesses trying to remain afloat through resource constraints and a global economy in distress. Organizational leaders would need to have strategies in place to ensure that the productivity levels of employees remain as status quo or improve if that was possible. This research paper focuses on understanding the now very significant concept of virtual leadership in particular for small businesses by sieving through a focused literature review that covers this area of interest, including those that have suggested operating models that the leaders could utilize to invigorate their small businesses in order to subvert the projection by Bloomberg that $2.7 trillion would be the ultimate payout in terms of economic losses as a result of this pandemic.