Communicate and PIVOT!

It's been a crazy few weeks. We're sheltering in place. The Covid-19 situation has certainly impacted my employer and how we support each other internally. It's also greatly affected our clients across the country and how we support them. We're all working remotely. But we're making it work. Everyone is making personal sacrifices and coming together, at a social distance, of course. And we're lucky because we can.

It's made me think a lot about the power and importance of honest, informative communication. Not just in business, but as people. When it became apparent we would have to make operational changes a few weeks ago we needed to come to a consensus internally as a leadership team and share that plan effectively company-wide. Quickly. We wanted our team to feel secure in knowing how we were making our decisions and why.

Then we needed to inform our clients about how our business was shifting and what that meant for them. And it keeps changing--no one at the highest levels of our government communicates a consistent message of what the whole picture looks like. No one really knows. So we as people and organizations are constantly pivoting. And ongoing communication is what keeps us moving forward and staying connected through all of this.

Many of my friends and family are small business owners. They depend on daily in-person transactions, most classified as "non-essential" (but in my book, haircare, wine, and retail therapy are absolutely essential, especially in this situation). Either way, I can't help but always wear my marketing hat, so it's inevitable that when talking to them I find myself brainstorming ideas and helping them problem solve as they face this new norm.

One thing I realized in speaking to them, owners of completely different businesses in many cases, is that the bottom line is the same. It's basic marketing -- solving basic needs. And constant communication.

I want to share some of their stories here to celebrate them and encourage them and others as we all continue into this new frontier so-to-speak. And I'm curious about what other challenges people are facing and what creative pivots are you testing right now? What's working and what's not? Because I can still hear birds singing outside my window. The sun is shining. And today is a new day of opportunity.