WHAT BUSINESSES HAVE LEARNED FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC By: Toni Becker
The COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold every day, but one
thing is certain, your business needs to build a strong resilience and take on new tactics in order to get through this difficult and unpredictable time. This “new normal” has placed us all in uncharted waters and has caused enormous vulnerability and stress, and no one has been untouched by the chaos of it all. COVID-19 has brought with it a new reality, and we have all had to isolate from each other while trying to remain connected to clients and work. In order to survive, businesses and organisations have had to quickly become agile and adapt to new business models as they arise. So, what can we take away from all of this chaos, and what tactics can we implement to protect our businesses and keep them alive and thriving?
Crisis Management and Swift Decision Making is Necessary: Certain countries such as Taiwan and Mongolia responded exceptionally quickly to the pandemic as they have been through similar crises before. These countries immediately mandated the wearing of masks, put rigorous testing procedures into place and implemented contact tracing as soon as possible.
What we can learn from this is that if you already have a plan in place for an emergency, you can quickly adapt to an emergency and prevent things from getting out of control. Businesses and organisations need to be prepared for anything and right now the world is still unaware of how bad the virus will get before it gets better. At this time, businesses need to take an in-depth look at their continuity and crisis plans, and build strategic plans for any possible situation. Leaders also need to look at decision making processes and how these can be optimized for the benefit of the business. In many cases, decision making has radically shifted and decisions that executive teams would have made during the normal course of business differ from those they have had to make during the COVID-19 pandemic. What makes the pandemic situation unique is that unlike other crises that have a shorter or more predictable duration, this pandemic has an extended and uncertain duration. To deal with this, enterprises must revisit their core competencies. Determine what the core organisational competencies are, and decide how to leverage those to continue to generate revenue while also considering safety, continuity and resilience.
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