19 Aug COVID 19 – The long haul
It’s hard to make dramatic changes in our lives and businesses. During my 61 years on this planet I’ve been through a few big changes. Therefore, I think I can safely say this is a time of deep change for most of us. It’s moving how people and organizations have come together to tackle the challenges and innovate creative solutions. I’m touched by the challenges and in some cases suffering that people are going through. Yet every day I’m inspired by the innovation of those around me. Frankly the courage and creativity blows me away.
Constantly changing wears us down, it’s called change fatigue. In the beginning of the social restrictions we adapted our lives and organizations as fast as we could. With all the change we’ve had little time to reflect. I think it’s time to step back for more perspective, muster more energy, and take the next step.
It’s been six months for most of us!
It’s September and we’ve been adapting to covid and innovating for six months. There’s still a lot to learn but we have much more information, and personally I think covid will affect how we do business for years. In the beginning we mostly groped around in the dark and did what we could with little and often conflicting information. However, even though there is still confusion, we can start normalizing our operations and position ourselves for the long term.
We adapted to cope as best we could. Most organizations adjusted to a mobile or more mobile workforce and customer interface. For many this adjustment was rapid with little time for planning. We had to react and the rules were constantly changing as we tried to latch on to what would work. There was little time to ask the important questions that lead to business efficiency and deep innovation.
Now that the dust has settled for many of us. We can take the opportunity to step back, regroup, and look at what’s working, what isn’t working, and what can be made better. After stepping back it’s easier to move forward with a clearer perspective and position ourselves for the long haul. Some organizations made a big pivot to a mostly mobile workforce. Those who went all in on mobile are likely to find cost saving and efficiency opportunities to consider.
Customers needs have changed.
When you take a deeper dive into what’s changed in your organization why not get curious about your customers? How have their lives changed and what do they really need right now? Can you help them in ways you never could before the pandemic? What if you bring your team together for an ideation meeting? You can challenge your team to find new ways of helping your customers. We all need creative solutions.
Staying secure and tapping in to resources.
When taking that step back it’s important to consider adapting security tools and practices to the new business model. We’re seeing more malicious actors out in the wild this year causing damage while extracting capital from their victims. They’ve been taking advantage of the disruption and increased vulnerability of a mobile workforce. Most organizations who pivoted to a mobile workforce haven’t had a chance to align their security to the mobile environment. Therefore we’ve been recommending inexpensive online training programs to raise security awareness.
If you are struggling, remember there are small business support programs at the city, county, state and federal levels to keep an eye on. As funds for one program are allocated new programs are added. Here is a good Washington State site for resources: https://www.business.wa.gov/site/alias__business/1561/default.aspx
If you are ready to look for opportunities and want an outside technology perspective please contact us, we can help.
“Any deep crisis is an opportunity to make your life extraordinary in some way.”
— Martha Beck, Author