Creativity & Innovation in Entrepreneurship- A Panel Discussion March 30, 2020 1pm- 2pm

When a group of passionate entrepreneurs come together for a panel discussion, it sure is bound to be cognizance of intellect, energy and deep introspection. In times such as what we are facing today, the questions posed to these entrepreneurs from Ignite Akademi were

1. How can businesses build trust and confidence with their employees and customers?

2. How can brands sustain themselves in the minds of their consumers?

3. What are the core values that need to be demonstrated during this period?

4. What opportunities do these entrepreneurs see now?

1. Building Trust and Confidence

One of the foremost emotional needs that fosters loyalty and commitment of employees with organizations, an emotion that motivates one to take ownership, a trigger that prompts employees to go beyond is the feeling of ‘Belongingness’. Now, more than ever, this is the need being felt. At the core of the employees resides fear- fear of their jobs, sustenance of the organization and doubts on business atmosphere returning to normalcy. It is here that businesses need to reach out to employees to envelop them, talk to them, demonstrate that they are cared for and bring in faith.

Our discussions brought out interesting facets of entrepreneurs demonstrating their reach to address this emotional need. The efforts seem to be focused on two major spectrums.

Employees: Entrepreneurs seem to be working in the direction of focussing on different aspects of the employees such as

a. Employee Safety: Businesses are talking to employees at a personal level to communicate how they could stay safe during this period. They are focusing on

i. Emotional Safety: Motivating employees on a personal level, giving them hope, courage and confidence and providing positivity in communication.

ii. Physical Safety: Information is being sent out to employees on how to maintain health & hygiene, the dos and don’ts and keeping fit.

 Social media is being leveraged to reach out to employees, to provide adequate information on safety and also to give hope that things will soon turn for the better. The frequency of reaching out to employees almost seems to be on a daily basis. 

b. Knowledge Enhancement: While learning and development have been part of organizational objectives, this period seems to have offered the opportunity to embrace this aspect. With employees being confined to their homes and time available at their disposal, businesses are converting this time into productivity. They are identifying the learning needs of employees, encouraging employees to speak about their latent skills and encouraging them to leverage the resources available in the online world to equip themselves intellectually, emotionally and socially.

c. Profession: Employees are being provided as much as possible with the infrastructure set up required to continue to perform their official tasks. They are being equipped digitally to access the required environments so that businesses can continue to function. Virtual conferencing is enabling teams to be in touch by seeing, discussing and brain storming with each other. Status updates are being done on a frequent basis.

d. Economic Sustenance: The impact of the crisis is being felt in various forms. And one fear that seems to be burgeoning in the minds of employees is the sustenance of their livelihood. Some entrepreneurs who seem to understand this are enabling comfortable living for their employees by ensuring they are being paid in advance.

Employees' Families: The communication, these days is not limited just to the employees but businesses are increasingly reaching out to the immediate families of the employees. An emotional connect is being created by these processes. Entrepreneurs are embracing families into their unit to show that they care. Their words of comfort are being inclusive.

Employee engagement seems to have taken a new form and organizations are delving into this sphere. The efforts are focused on retaining employee morale and faith along with creating a sense of belongingness.

2. Sustaining Brand Amongst Consumers

With restraints being imposed on logistically moving and having discussions face to face, entrepreneurs are embracing creative means to engage with their customers so that they retain their mind share. More specifically, few businesses in the services domain are able to tangentially explore options.

Helping customers to be digitally connected and grow their business, training courses being offered free of costs, addressing problem areas and providing solutions as a well-wisher than as a business seem to be at the forefront. While previously many businesses focussed on marketing and selling their product & services, today the focus seems to have been shifted to increased working relationships with their customers as a problem solver. ‘How can we help you address your area of concern by working together?’ seems to be the language being spoken. With budgetary constraints, entrepreneurs need to sustain their brand. Communication needs to be flowing for their brands to be retained. What better way than to engage with clients, discuss freely as time is now available for elaborate brain storming sessions and work together adorning the hat of a consultant!

3. Core Values To Be Demonstrated Now

When humane values guide us even when the going gets tough, they act as a gush of spring in an environment that seems to be parched. Many entrepreneurs seem to have understood the significance of demonstrating these values and are ensuring they act as a compass during these times. The core values that seem to be guiding them are

a. Empathy: From reaching out to employees, their families as described above and helping them economically, empathy seems to be at the forefront guiding businesses across their various relationships. With consumers, it is helping solve a problem. With employees, it is understanding their fears, addressing them and also enabling personal growth needs.

b. Transparency: The facts are out there. Information is being bombarded from different directions. A set of entrepreneurs believe that they need to be transparent. This, they believe helps to avoid creating unrealistic expectations. While being transparent, they also believe they need to be supportive of their employees. It is the feeling of ‘being in this together’ is what they seem to be communicating.

c. Faith:‘Faith can move mountains’, we have heard. A large helping of faith is enabling many entrepreneurs to see a beacon of light and transmit this positivity to their teams. They seem to hold on to positive thoughts that help to anchor their levels of confidence and walk high amidst the business environment. They need to keep the boat sailing. Faith in the form of motivating teams, faith in the form of continuing business, faith in the form of embracing innovation convey the message that confidence seems to be brewing.

At the intersection of these emotions, we notice that laterally Hope, Acceptance, Conviction are being nurtured.

When Empathy and Faith intersect, they give rise to possibilities. The feeling of understanding exists, acknowledgement is visible; and there exists confidence, belief and trust. Out of this arises 'Hope' that things will get better. Employees are being fed with hope that the situation will turn for the better and that they need to be equipped when the tides turn. The motivation levels are only getting higher with entrepreneurs reaching out to maximum members of their teams to ensure the morale stays high.

When Empathy and Transparency intersect, they give rise to absorbing the situation. With the feeling of being in the other person shoes, there is also a need to communicate the current scenario. Entrepreneurs want employees to embrace the current situation in entirety. Yes, this is crisis time. And acceptance arises and exists in every transaction. There are efforts to prevent it from turning into ‘resignation’.

When faith and transparency converge, it is a combination of beliefs and practicality. With a deep sense of faith simmering within, businesses have the conviction that the situation will turn for the better soon. Whether it is the social environment or inflow of information streaming in from across the world, this faith seems to be molded as conviction to rise oneself.

And at the core of this value and belief system lies resilience, simmering and conveying the message that ‘This too shall pass’.

4. Opportunities in Today’s Scenario

Time seems to be a major factor in shaping one's thoughts today. The hustle and bustle of everyday life seem to have taken a slower pace creating space for intense thoughts. These also seem to have lead to questioning and exploration.

Opportunities, during this period, fall under three categories:

a. Personal: With abundant resources available online to learn, educate and develop oneself and the teams, entrepreneurs are looking at this phase as an opportunity towards self-development. Team interests are being discussed. Passion and hobbies are being explored. And in some cases, one’s own strengths are being looked at to see if they can be honed.

b. Professional: While these are on the personal front, there are also deep contemplations happening to explore different product lines and in some cases, varied business opportunities as well. Some minds are engaged in assessing and exploring possibilities to leverage the current scenario to develop new products or services. With time at their disposal, entrepreneurs are able to invest their thoughts and ideas on these lines.

c. Social: A realization that we are social has set in. Relationships are being nurtured. Familial bonds seemed to be worked upon. Efforts are being made to reach out to different social spheres to address the need to be connected. This seems to be the time to build relationships. With deprivation in connecting in the real world existing, social media and tele-communication technologies are being hugely relied upon to foster these bonds.

While the economic and business climate paint a grim picture, it is heartening to note that there are entrepreneurs who are adapting to this situation with creativity and innovation in different spectrums. They are exploring ways and means to keep their organization intact, remain purposeful and create more value.

While this phase might have opened up new avenues, what is of paramount importance is to keep the morale high, intensify the spirit of resilience within oneself, explore value creation and trudge forward.