Preparing for the 'new normal'
There’s been a lot of articles floating around the web surrounding crisis communications and what to do during a pandemic. Many businesses are facing hardships right now, and what I can say with the utmost confidence, is that the world will be very different at the end of this crisis.
Many businesses won’t survive, many people will have sustained financial hardships, and we will see a slow long process towards building back to a well functioning global economy.
I don’t pretend to offer any quick fixes or tips which can cure the shared stresses we are all facing, rather I offer some perspective and guidance on what you should be thinking about to ensure that there is a future.
Circle of concern VS Circle of influence
About ten years ago I read a book by Stephen Covey called ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. It has been a book which I have reflected on many times throughout my career. In a time like we are in right now, I defer to a specific part of this book which talks about your circle of concern and your circle of influence (see image below). Most people spend their time thinking about things which are inside of the circle of concern. Often these are things which in actuality we ‘cannot’ control such as: another person's actions, another person’s decision on morality, or how someone will react to an event or situation outside of your immediate control. It’s so easy to be caught up thinking about these things and I know when COVID-19 entered my life, I found myself worrying about factors I had no control over.
Our circle of influence is where we can have the most impact, it’s things such as our thoughts, feelings, where we choose to spend our time, and the actions we choose to take daily. In the current state of the world, we need to focus on ‘what we can control’. We have the ability to flatten the curve, if everyone simply does their part. We have the opportunity to reconnect with people of the past and people we have lost touch with. As responsible citizens we have the ability to help those who are worse off than we are and we have the opportunity to have a meaningful impact in our communities.
A saying which was often used in my family growing up was ‘Many hands make light work’. I believe that we all as upstanding citizens have a responsibility to do our best. Now more so than ever, I am focusing on being intentional with communication towards team members, suppliers, competitors and family.
As a business how will you survive this?
I mentioned earlier that many businesses would likely not be able to stay in business when this pandemic is done. This won't just be small businesses, large businesses will also have big challenges. I genuinely believe many industries will have to reimagine the way they operate in the ‘new normal’. I have been communicating with many businesses, who are asking me things like: Should we close? How can we remain in business? Should we stop advertising? Should we layoff staff?
Generally speaking, now is the time for serious planning. Businesses that pull through this, and will do so through these characteristics:
- Agile - will constantly be responsible to the changing climate
- Flexible - will understand that their plan today may not be their plan tomorrow
- Transparent - communicate with staff, vendors, suppliers with complete honesty, transparency and frequency
- Speed over perfection - will be able to mobilize quickly and adapt processes
- Prioritize - now more than ever being able to discern high value vs. low value tasks
- Curious - forget everything you think you know about your customers, your brand, and your market. Everything is now on the table. Being able to reimagine your business will lead to the best outcomes.
- Cash is king - easier said than done, but being able to have a fluid understanding of cash flow and being able to retain liquidity will be crucial to dealing with a sustained downturn.
- Tool Selection - being able to deal with a decentralized workforce, and utilize tools to help you retain customers, prospects and team chemistry. There are so many great tools which can help you sustain this ‘working from home’ period of time. Check out this article for some great tools.
We are all in the same place
What we are all going through is so unique, and there is no ‘play book’ to walk you through how to deal with it. Now is the time for collaboration and for us to share knowledge and information to help one another get through this. Technology has taught us to connect and share information with the masses. Now is the time to leverage this globally, to support and help kill COVID-19.
I believe that we as people are resilient and capable of many great things, especially in times of great need. If we all focus on our circle of influence, we will see tremendous results globally.
If anyone is looking for help, connections or introductions, please send me a message. Now is the time for paying it forward!
Do your part! #letskickcovid19
Cheers,
Andrew