What to do next? How to set a plan for 2020-21?

The CXOs, Directors, Owners and rest who are heading the companies, their SBU and departments are asking these questions to me for two weeks as we all are speculating a great threat coronavirus pandemic.

Many business owners, who take my guidance, have started reporting back that their deals' conversion is paused, projects are not getting sanctioned and current clients are slowing down the project. Their clients have started asking for Business Contingency Plan, asking for taking up insurance of business and pushing remote culture, which is not so obvious in Indian outsourcing firms.

And all have a great question, "What to do next? How to set a plan for the 2020-21 fiscal year?" So I thought to share my views.

As a business coach and mentor, I have always raised the bar and set the next goals which seem impossible to CEOs and their teams. But today, I have a different answer that even you sustain what you did in 2019-20 is also a win. It is important to understand that business has multiple forces impacting its strategy and outcomes. And some of them are external (beyond your control). We are getting impacted by that and it is causing a downward spiral effect.

We have just started to feel the down curve. We are at the receiving end, we don't know how long it will take and what will be the total impact on the global economy. So we cannot plan for the whole year but take some action.

Below shall be done as of now,

• Make a Business Contingency Plan / Business Continuity Management - how will you survive in a bad time? You, your team, and your clients, all need this answer. Identifying those parts of your business that you can’t afford to lose – such as information, products, premises, staff – and planning how to maintain these if something goes wrong. You will require to do risk analysis, take action to minimize the impact and think about the plan of recovery. You will find a lot of online guides and templates to do this. But what is more important is to do it.
• Manage situation and panic. Learn faster how to go remote. As there can be a scenario that your employees work on workstations and not on a laptop, so thinking remote is the first road-block (Certainly, you cannot buy hundreds of laptops to manage this). Here you can compromise on the security policy a bit, most of your employees will have a system at home. Time to change IT-Policy. Give them access.
• It is important that we continue to work than having holidays. In the time of panic, if people are free, they create more. So it is important that people continue working. That will help in hitting current milestones as well.
• In the case projects are slowing down, it is time to develop skills for the next jump. Ask people to learn new things, experiments on product ideas you have or create ready components for your business sprint.
• Complete your current project milestones and collect due payments. This is important to manage your cashflows and have liquidity. I am sure that you would be having reserve funds to pay your staff members even you don't have projects going on. But it is difficult for small companies and start-ups to survive in such scenarios. Also, it becomes tough for the companies who have initiated investments and they are mid-way.
• Support your team in bad time - As we are knowledge workers and human is our capital, it is important to retain talent, till we can. You will get messages from your peers / other business owners and soon we will hear the news for layoffs. In this scenario, companies who stand by their people will win in the longer run. The world works on the favor. When you give it to your team (your family), they reciprocate the same. If you are clear that you are on titanic, then layoff is the last choice. In a panic, don't make a cost-cutting plan on the name of the continuity plan.
• It is ok, not to have growth or more profit this year. It is important that we make progress in life. And for workaholic CEOs and transactional leaders, the outcome is everything. It is important that you see life as a long journey and on curvey road, we can slow down.
• Make three goals for 2020-21. Generally, I ask CEOs to create a base target and a top target. This year I suggest having three - The sustaining goal, Moderate (base) goal, and optimistic goal. We are hopeful that in the coming 3 months the world will recover and the economy will take a sigh of relief. In that case, we can hit a moderate goal. If it goes worse, we can hit sustaining goals, and if things recover quicker and better, we can go for an optimistic goal in rest three quarters.
• Study Technical and Industry Trend and choose your next move. This is a time where you can do a SWOT analysis, look at industry forces, read papers, check competition and find what shall be your next technology to invest or which territory to go for. Your estimations will change based on the outcomes of this quarter and the global situation. But you will be able to set the direction for sure.
• Go slow in investment - In IT outsourcing there are ongoing recruitment seasons. Now it is a time, where you can speculate, go slow in hiring costly resources specifically in foreign countries, try with consulting and contracting agreements. And don't book additional investments (costs). Bigger capital investments can also wait for a quarter and based on a scenario in the future, you shall jump-in.
• Companies can invest time in long-pending internal projects. I have always heard a complaint that owners and their core team never get time for Branding, Strategy making, Product planning, Documentation, Process improvements, Audit, Market analysis, Thinking on what shall be the next product/service/market, Pending infrastructure/interior of the office, etc. When you have an easy time, it is important to work on these to make a better future.
• Stay optimistic and Hopeful - I am not asking you to be blind. It is always good to be Pragmatic. But it is essential to stay positive, optimistic and hopeful about the next upswing. It will fuel energy to take action. Rember the line which I keep on repeating in my sessions - "Even god exists in our faith".
• Stay in touch with clients/ partners and network online. It is important to sustain your network and be in constant updates about your clients/ partners, know their situations and support them in the best possible manner to manage this scenario. Be sensitive to them, empathy is the key here.

And most important, stay safe and healthy, have a good time with your family in a safe zone. Every phase has a timeline. This will pass and the next sprint will come.