11 minute read
Never waste a good crisis
Gerry Skerritt from Dream Team Catalyst looks at strategies for the current times.
Many of us read the simple but powerful parable Who Moved My Cheese? when it hit bookshelves more than 20 years ago, and some of us got the T-shirt and tattoo in the ensuing years. In the last three months, every single person on the planet has landed a starring role in the movie. As usual, Hollywood got all dramatic on us and deviated from the original plot to serve up an embellishment of epic proportions that would have been better titled Who Nuked Our Cheese & Imprisoned Us So We Couldn’t Find More?
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You couldn’t blame anyone for getting stage fright. It’s pretty hard not to have performance anxiety when you don’t have anywhere to perform – nobody would be allowed to come and watch you even if you did.
OK please, enough with the metaphors. The fact is that there are few industries worse affected by the scourge of the novel coronavirus than MICE and our close cousins, travel and tourism.
Like many great businesses, at Dream Team Catalyst, our order book and pipeline went from crammed, to Old Mother Hubbard – almost overnight. After a respectable period of mourning and self-pity (admittedly, we may have overdone it a bit on the self-pity), we remembered the wise words of the great Colombian philosopher Shakira: “You’re a good soldier, choosing your battles. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off, get back in the saddle. You’re on the frontline, everyone’s watching. You know it’s serious, we’re getting closer – this isn't over. The pressure is on. You feel it. But you’ve got it all, believe it.”
That’s definitely the last metaphor, but certainly one to keep spirits up, which is so crucial at this time.
FIVE FABULOUS FACTS The genie is out of the bottle and extensive remotely based work is here to stay. There will be big live conferences, exhibitions and events in the future but digital, remote and online will remain an important part of the mix. Embrace it!
Over the past three months, we have had a lot of conversations with our clients and immersed ourselves in R&D. We are delighted to share with our industry partners the Five Fabulous Facts that we have learned: 1 Great work can be done remotely, and we have proven it (said with heaps of modesty). Collaboration does not have to be done committee-style, around a boardroom table. Most of us had already heard of this but only believe it now because we have actually seen it.
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3You too can make changes to your current model. If you create value for clients, they will pay you. A tiny portion of our clients spend money with the intention of maxing out their budgets; the majority are looking for value and ROI. Give it to them and they will make the recent queues for toilet paper and hand sanitiser look like no big deal. 4 The world has always been your oyster but now you can now have a dash of champagne too due to the mobility of a remote world. The rotten exchange rate might make your imported iPhone expensive but it’s going to make your invoice to a European or American client look like chump change. Recently, and in just 24 hours, our team ran events in Cape Town, Edinburgh, London, Johannesburg, Tunis and Vancouver. From this, we can see how the gig economy is set to shake up our industry even further. But think now: are you going to be an innovative, agile and profitable ride sharing company or a crusty disgruntled metred taxi owner? 5 Fabulous Fact Four was a rhetorical question. “You've got it all. Believe it.” Let’s do this!
THE DREAM TEAM CATALYST REMOTE PORTFOLIO We provide a comprehensive suite of services that can benefit companies in all markets, big and small, and help them navigate the current challenges of running a remote team.
Together with our colleagues from around the world – all who are at the top of their game and thought leaders blessed with creativity and intelligence – we have applied our collective expertise in delivering live creative team development, employee engagement and motivational experiences, to produce a range of world-class virtual activities.
We spent exactly eight weeks creating a powerful portfolio of activities that address the needs of business owners and keep teams and individuals engaged, inspired and, most importantly, united. We have found these aspects form approximately 80% of our clients’ needs, which we place a strong emphasis on throughout our programmes.
ENGAGE, COLLABORATE, CONNECT AND HAVE FUN! Beyond connecting to communicate and collaborate, remote teams must find ways of having fun together because this nurtures a culture of connectedness. We can tailor relevant and effective solutions to achieve these outcomes. Most are facilitated through a live video stream, although some are held offline. Our award-winning, technology-fuelled engagement platform, Go Team, takes on a new face with Go Remote. With customisable quizzes, photo and video challenges, the captivating gameplay engages all members of a remote team and encourages a spirit of collaboration and unity. Our popular whodunnit thriller, Escape the Mob, is perfect for virtual teams that want to laugh more than learn. You take off on a virtual round-the-world adventure with our Race Around the World, where participants will virtually visit different countries and complete diverse tasks related to their chosen destination. Curve balls and the ‘wow’ factor abound in these very innovative experiences.
CREATIVITY FOR MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT Expand creativity by allowing people to step outside their regular daily lives and into a world of make-believe. For an entertaining and engaging experience, why not create a movie together, publish a newspaper or dub a well-known video clip?
LEARN TOGETHER VIRTUALLY Virtual team learning gets a boost with our selection of business games. Our groundbreaking game, Peak Performance, as an example, is based on a team being led by a guide who go on an expedition up Mount Everest. Participants develop a greater understanding of the customer experience, accountability and synergy, and learn what it means to be an agile, highperforming team!
For an explosive, iterative learning experience, ask us about the virtual version of one of our most popular team-building activities, The Infinite Loop.
STAYING HEALTHY FOR POSITIVE WELL-BEING Healthy workers are happier and more productive. A common complaint of remote workers is they work more hours, don’t take breaks and have no clear distinction between home and work-life balance. Our remote well-being programmes include guided meditation, which can be easily enjoyed from any device, anytime, anywhere, while our Icebreakers and Energisers are effective for keeping your team motivated and engaged during daily online meetings.
Get in touch – we’d be happy to share some ideas with you!
dream team CATALYST
A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM
Chobe Water Villas
After coming to a near halt, Lisa Roos from LIMO Networking talks about where the recovery might be for businesses in the hospitality and events industries that have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is a rather sad time, seeing the business we have built over the years grind to a complete halt and, for me personally, the client retainers I had have been either cancelled, frozen or reduced.
Working from home is something we have been doing for years but this is an all-new spin, as you have no break from home, the driving time to think and have telephonic conversations, visiting clients, running workshops. Perhaps the greatest impact on us all is the freedom and decision-making that we have been fortunate and privileged enough to enjoy, and that many of us have possibly taken for granted for so many years.
Our days are now filled with Zoom meetings, webinars, and unending online and social media posts. Our roles as parents, teachers, business professionals, spouses and cooks are now culminating in one space, with little to no change of the current environment. You find yourself researching online classes, joining forums on Facebook groups, creating presentations and trawling through databases, all in the hope that when we get the call to lift the lockdown, we are ready to get cracking.
Your mind may play tricks on you; one minute you laugh and share memes, then you start getting the shakes and your throat closes with the thought that you are losing everything you have worked for...
WHAT LIES AHEAD? Right now, we all need to prepare for a new normal. Thankfully, the portfolio of properties we have has started reopening. O&L Leisure Hotels and Lodges have opened their doors to their locally based guests and we already have corporate travellers checking in.
Strand Hotel Swakopmund, Mokuti Etosha Lodge and Midgard Country Estate all reopened their doors in early May, while Le Franschhoek Hotel and Spa used the lockdown for maintenance around the property. It reopened its doors as an essential services accommodation provider on 18 May.
Chobe Water Villas will be reopening in June, while the family-friendly Amanzingwe will potentially be used as a Covid-19 quarantine venue over the next few months.
Sadly, the HB Connect Conference and Events Centre, which is 90% conference and events dependent, will not have a reopening date for the foreseeable future.
As our properties prepare with sanitising and cleaning, and we eagerly anticipate the return of our patrons, many are launching attractive specials – our Namibia properties, as one example, are extending the Namibia rates (SADC rates) to travellers.
While it is clear we still have a long road ahead of us, let us also be grateful for the small victories and gains we are currently making. And with everything we do, let us be mindful that this is in the best interests of our clients and guests in the long run.
Strand Hotel Swakopmund
Mokuti Etosha Lodge
Le Franschhoek Hotel and Spa
Midgard Country Estate
Chobe Water Villas
HB Connect Conference and Events Centre
NEW ERA
ConCept G’s Gill Gibbs on how to be a Covid-19 survivor.
Despite how some choose to ignore the rules and the conditions set, perhaps thinking they are infallible, I am sure that, by now, most of us know the lockdown drill – so I’m not going to talk to you about washing your hands and practising social distancing.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation – pre-Covid-19 – that was actually of your own making, perhaps through lack of attention, care or responsibility, and where your very life was in peril?
It may have seemed that there was no way out at the time, and yet, here we all are.
We are exactly where we have placed ourselves as a species. The current circumstances are certainly not ideal but we are masters of our own destiny and captains of our own ship, so it is up to us what happens going forward.
FROM THE ASHES The exhibition, event and retail landscape is already forever altered. Buzzwords and catch phrases abound: the new normal, navigating uncharted territory, unprecedented, business unusual, trying times – to name a few.
However, if we were to look at the situation in which we find ourselves from a slightly different perspective, we would also realise that there is a new dawn on the horizon.
The legend of the phoenix begins with a spark falling from the heavens and igniting a great fire that consumes both a bird and its nest. Within three days, the bird – the phoenix – rises from the ashes, born again.
A legendary tale indeed, famous for the many elements that it represents: life and death, creation and destruction, even time itself – but also, a new era.
HOW IS CONCEPT G SHOWING UP? As a group of companies, we are studying, learning, researching, developing, ideating and innovating – digesting everything and transforming. We have played out the various possible and relevant scenarios, then applied solutions to each. This is a societal shift like none seen in our lifetime and our focus is on rebuilding and restoring, boldly and imaginatively, as we move further into the next decade. We are a registered and certified ESP – Essential Service Provider – and we are developing customised, sustainable products for the long haul, with longevity and opportunity first and foremost. Connectedness is paramount, as is understanding that the world will never be the same again. New is good. We look forward to flattening the curve with you and, eventually, we will venture out into the new normal.
