It’s interesting – the pandemic isn’t even over. Yet as mask mandates ease and springtime takes us by the hand into a hopeful warm summer, we might finally have a moment to catch our breath. If you’re like the rest of us, you are thinking proactively about the future of your businesses and what you might do differently to future-proof against the next wave.
None of us are certain if the storm has passed, or if we are merely in the calm center. So what can we do today that will ready our business for the next unexpected pandemic, supply chain nightmare, or general unrest as we witness increasing political polarization and wars?
Look to Your Past and Learn
Don’t be too quick to jettison what you’ve just been through. This is a chance to build culture and optimism with your team. Celebrate your response and resiliency. Review what has been learned and how your team succeeded to maintain through a historic downturn in business and global health. Celebrate the survival, even if it wasn’t pretty. You and your team faced and dealt with difficulties. A couple of years ago you would have likely chosen to take another path or at the least, you wouldn’t have plunged in both feet first.
What practices and processes did your business change in response to real-world demands? What did you learn? Were there hacks or adaptations you could codify and establish as a best practice? Review your baling wire solutions with your IT Services team. Consider turning short-term solutions into standardized processes. Make them a part of how you do business. Turn these into aspects of agility and competitiveness. Establishing new norms makes your business responsive and nimble for whatever the future throws your way.
Continue Curbside
One pandemic era feature no one is ready to let go of is revitalized customer focus. Curbside pick-up in the retail and food sector was a no-brainer. Order something, park outside, and get it delivered to you. So easy! Such a convenience. Those who chose this practice differentiated themselves from those who did not. Should curbside continue? The spirit of this service can transcend any sector. Look for new ways to serve your customers uniquely. Surprise, delight, reduce friction, and steps. Make amazing service your solution instead of your problem.
Maintain Decentralized Officing
Preserve your distributed officing muscle. Instead of feeling forced to work from home, invite it. Establish a culture of accountability and freedom. Being able to work from home one day a week is a morale bump and a strong hiring incentive. Fast forward two years from now. Imagine a new infectious variant blowing through your industry. Your futureproofing plan should not be to pull Microsoft Teams out of the closet or to blow the dust off of Zoom. It will be just like starting over. Too many of your people will have come and gone. The memory will have faded. Work with your IT Services team now to set up best-of-breed tools and services. Decentralize data permanently by moving to the cloud. Level up with collaborative documenting. You survived. Now thrive!
