A Series (Part 4)

If there is one thing we can be certain of, it’s that Covid-19 will greatly impact our businesses and lives. The return to normal, now widely dubbed as the “new normal”, is bound to take some time.

Suffice it to say, we’re all in this together – although some more than others, it is believed that all industries will be affected.

But the new normal bares a great deal of challenges that trigger long-term effects.

Businesses will be urged to redesign their operating models, restructure the priorities, and provide a new response to all stakeholders’ needs, whether it’s human capital, clients, governmental institutions, management, or board members.

This wave of rapid changes capitalizes on uncertainty.

Consequently, leadership and management are to make both ‘transparency’ and ‘trust’ top priorities across organizations.

The Importance Of Becoming An Early Adopter

Meetings, events, and the concept of business networking will not disappear, but will surely take a new shape, where we will witness the onset of diverse virtual and/or hybrid events.

Perhaps from now on whenever we will wish to attend a conference, we can choose whether to ‘Go-live’ and suit-up, or ‘Go-Virtual’ from the comfort of our home.

Adapt. Do Not Reinvent

Advanced technology is at our disposal, and forward-looking organizations will have to become early adopters of all agile models of operation.

While this process may strike many as overwhelming, the key is to adjust existing infrastructure and organizational foundations, as explained below:

• Strategic, long-term workforce, and talent planning. Providing a lot more flexibility and work-from-home opportunities. Relying more on output and results, rather than micro-management and traditional KPIs. Rethinking the entire performance management and compensation systems. Shifting from traditional, in-person learning and development of the workforce towards more appropriate and somehow ‘forced’ virtual methods.

• Development of organizational ‘response to crisis’, as well as ‘business continuity plan’.

• Preparing financial resources that would support the organization’s perseverance through unprecedented or unexpected events. Predictably, post-Covid19 financial transactions could be delayed, and organizations may need to put into place a new “who-shall-be-paid-first” plan. Maintaining sound relationships across your supply chain, and supplier relationship management will be utterly critical.

• Owing to a strong cloud-based infrastructure and strong IT protection.

• Overall, a lot more structured, detailed planning related to all critical resources.

It is also very likely that organizations will face challenges to maintain a robust sales pipeline, regardless of the assertive efforts of their business development team, new products, and services.

Moreover, organizations will need to consider what will be the long-term effects of their social interactions, events, and personal contacts. What products and/or services they would need to offer following this period, as customer behavior is rapidly changing, and there is an absolute need for new or changed solutions.

During these uncertain times, new Leaders will swim up to the surface and those who fail to adjust will sink to the bottom. Dexterous Leaders will adapt a rather proactive approach where they will anticipate environmental changes and find new ways of listening to the market’s beat, receiving information to develop the unique capability to offer solutions to the current and future customer requirements. To know what their customers will need, even before they know themselves. For long-term success, organizations must develop insight into customer behavior as to know in what manner one’s products and/or services should be modified.

On a positive note, we are witnessing life going back to normal, although utterly slowly but steadily and gradually. History shows that regardless of the imminent pessimistic predictions about the world, and the business society, WE have capabilities and agility to endure every crisis and come out of it stronger than ever.