We have a global pandemic on our hands, thanks to a pangolin somewhere in China. A single event, originated in nature, has created effects that are unprecedented and has caused ripples across the globe.
Image: A pangolin. From Wikipedia Commons.
We’re at home for the foreseeable future and potentially facing a very different way of living and doing business for several months. Many of us are wondering how to keep our businesses afloat in these uncertain and worrying times. This article explores opportunities that could help us to develop ourselves and our businesses.
What changes can you implement?
We’re all now doing things that we never thought we could. All the businesses who felt they weren’t ready to adopt the remote working trend were suddenly forced to make it happen for themselves and their employees. Government offices were already pushing hard to deliver digital transformation and have begun to make great strides much faster than ever before because this is their only option.
There’s been a shift in management styles, from bums on seats and micromanagement to project and measurement-based leadership. Leaders are seeing positive results from a workforce that is just as productive at home as they are in the office, but without a two-hour daily commute.
We’ve stayed home. We haven’t used gyms, visited bars, restaurants or shopping centres. We’ve connected with family and friends virtually, spent more time outdoors, and found jobs we didn’t know existed. Some of us have loved being with our children every day, getting to know them better.
We’ve also reconnected with a deep sense of gratitude. We’re more thankful than ever for our health. We’ve recognised the value of human, face to face connection, and we’ve become acutely aware of the jobs and industries that keep this country going.
What can you learn from how you’ve adapted? How can you adopt a way of doing business that’s more efficient, more productive and focuses on the essentials? Can you live a life and run a business that’s environmentally sustainable? Can you spend less money? Does this mean you can work less and spend more time at home? Now, more than ever before, is your chance to claim the work-life balance you’ve dreamed of.
Do you have contingency plans?
Companies have spent millions in recent years on physical back up sites for disaster recovery. These recovery plans were created based on the assumption that a disaster would be physical, affecting their property. In this crisis, our sites are just fine, standing lonely and isolated while we’re working away at home. Many office buildings have become defunct. We’ve realised too late that a disaster is much more likely to be an electronic computer virus or a biological virus.
Our view of disaster recovery has changed remarkably. The good side of this is that because we’ve been forced to react, many of us now have the contingency arrangements in place ready for something like this happening again, which of course I hope and pray that it won’t.
Have you developed recovery plans to make sure you’re prepared for a crisis like this in the future?
Challenge your beliefs and plan for your future
The virus has challenged all our beliefs, all our habits, and pushed us to change. We can use this to play our part in making the future better. 
Work through the questions below and write down your responses. Keep them in your notebook as a reminder of the way you felt during the lockdown and to cement the challenges you’re setting yourself for the future. Become a catalyst for change.
- Have you reflected on the impact this will have on your business?
- Do you think there will be a new normal for you and your business?
- Has this changed the way you think about work-life balance?
- Has this changed your view of what’s possible for you and for the world?
- Have you revisited your personal and business values and goals?
- A single animal caused a ripple that had an impact across the globe – can you create a high-impact ripple of your own?
I’d love to hear your reflections. Please share them with me on LinkedIn. If you’d like to talk about the next steps for your own business in the brave new post-virus world, I’d love to chat.
At this difficult time I’m setting aside part of my day to offer free mini Executive Coaching and Mentoring to people who would value some help in adopting a new way of working, exploring the impact of the coronavirus on their business or to think through how they can recapture lost ground when the virus passes.
Take care and stay safe.
Alan.
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