GREESHMA S

PUM21120

ASSIGNMENT 7
Uncertainty in its true essence is being in the state of not knowing what happens next. It also seems
to adhere to situations where one feels overwhelmed by the effects a certain projected interest/task
can have.

UMT (Uncertainty management theory) is formulated based on how a person reacts to a given
situation and deals with the emotions they might experience during the same. It could range from
anxiety to stress to disbelief and to have no hope. Uncertainty can occur due to one's chaos in their
mind regardless of the amount of information they have or it might also be caused by actually not
having any information at all.

UMT helps understand the interpersonal relationships one has in their life be it communication,
relationship, professional, or health.

Each person reacts to Uncertainty differently. Largely negative uncertainty causes stress and anxiety.
Positive uncertainty opens space for communication and neutral uncertainty is seen to be accepted
as a fact of life.

Uncertainty may be due to rapid changes in one's life, perceptional interpretations, or even brief
unsettling conversations.

Uncertainty in management or companies can be reduced by adapting to analytical methods which

do not require high accuracy. Simple statistical models also provide a sense of stability and success.
Preparing for multiple outcomes and focussing on the evaluation of initiatives. Most importantly
cultivating a reputation for extreme trust.

Uncertainty in management usually means the likeliness of a task to happen in a given circumstance
subject to sudden or unexpected change. A lot of what happens in the system is people-based.
Anything related to people and their work is subjective to many factors apart from that of estimated
outputs. To minimize the effects of uncertainty certain critical methods and tools can be adopted. -
Analytic analysis of situations and their possible outcomes - Simple data formatting Exercises -
Strategic planning alongside accepting feedback from other sources

However, organizations are to adapt to uncertainty in their atmosphere along with competition.
Assessing how organizations work, this acceptance of uncertainty depends on the level of tolerance
an individual has towards risk-taking. Because often all decisions taken from a managerial point of
view involve risk and it takes a bag of experience for risk assessment.

2) Covid-19 was one such case of uncertainty that people did not assume would happen. It was a
shock to the entire population of the world. It turned things upside down for many businesses and
individuals. It is a fine example to show how our projections and assumptions are limited. ultimately
what happens is not under the control of either the human mind or the projected paths of
technology.

Covid 19 started as a pandemic, a disease that was not yet everywhere. But very soon people started
taking the precautions that they had, to protect themselves from the spread in airports and
malls. There was panic in the crowd about why certain people were being so overly precautious
about the situation since the spread was not in their vicinity.
 GREESHMA S
PUM21120

ASSIGNMENT 7
This pandemic not only affected the businesses but also individuals and the way they functioned in
the normal sphere of social setting. People started closing down their shops and other showrooms
due to the immediate lockdown that happened.

This uncertainty created a lot of pressure on the management section of the urban atmosphere.
People had to adapt to other means of running their business, most of which turned online. People
even started behaving differently in social settings due to the restrictions imposed and also because
of the social fear of the disease. Managers were forced to think of innovative and creative methods
to adapt and restore the social dimension of urban neighborhoods.

Since the 1m, social distancing rule was imposed, people had to work around it and many innovative
ways were disposed of in social settings such as circles where people would get to know the distance
was commonly seen in many temples/grocery shops. Otherwise in Australia Social Bubble was
introduced on the beaches where each person would have an individual bubble dedicated to them.

Covid-19 has also affected the social realm in a way that it cannot recover to what is called "Normal"
again. The way people interacted with each other before in public seems to have been lost now
since the guidelines do not allow more than 50/100 people in any given setting. Although in many
cities these guidelines are either not being followed or are being neglected the fear of the pandemic
still rests in the mind of the majority.

Neighborhoods also react differently to the current situation of post-Covid times. They feel
challenged to conduct events/ celebrate festivals during these times. While being faced with coming
together the festivities also act as a symbol of unity in neighborhoods that they currently feel are
under threat due to the stigma of social distancing. However, small groups of people still celebrate
the same in the spirit of the festival while others appreciate the same on Whatsapp groups.

Access and social exclusion remain in many communities. Access without masks is seen almost in all
shops across the world. While having a common cold or a brief cough attack seems to be threatening
to anyone around you in public, the CovidCell acts like an institution taking care of the same as a
helpline.

To provide an equitable environment including the guidelines of Covid and yet make the space
socially engaging is the future challenge for all spaces in the urban realm. To bring the city back to
life but in a manner that adheres to the guidelines is ongoing and in process.

A covid Inclusive design approach is to adopt for any future social realms and the present ones need
to adapt quickly to this change as a place should change with time and circumstance.

All and all the adaptation of the managerial world towards Covid has been so far challenging and
there are many more innovations yet to be implemented. Many battles of social fear are yet to be
fought.
 GREESHMA S
PUM21120

ASSIGNMENT 7

References
Author. (2021, oct 11). kolibiri.teacherinbox.in. Retrieved from Kolibiri:
http://kolibri.teacherinabox.org.au/modules/en-
boundless/www.boundless.com/management/definition/uncertainty/index.html

Osborne, K. (2021, Oct 11). Slideshare. Retrieved from Slideshare.net:

https://www.slideshare.net/KatelynOsborne3/uncertainty-management-theory

trust, s. c. (2020). Saath covid response. ahmedhabad: saath charitable trust.