The cruel reality
With the pandemic hitting the world, it’s easier to forget that prior to the whole Covid-19 era, the global business landscape was at best, already thorny. Companies were confronted with difficult decisions on how to respond to climate change and technological disruption. Demographic trends, political divisiveness, and worker upskilling were other vexing issues. Trade obstacles, immigration laws, and occasionally arbitrary regulations were all on the table. Unfortunately, because of the complexities of these issues, many leaders were more likely to be paralyzed by them than to act on them.
The emergency urgency
When the coronavirus pandemic struck, companies that had been reluctant to respond to prior crises reacted immediately and in real time to the disease's existential risks. How can you keep the business running when everyone—employees and customers—are at distance? When ports are closed or restricted, how do you send products throughout the world? How do you keep the sense of an organization in order? Businesses, fueled by adrenaline, demolished established models and processes in days rather than weeks, months, or years. They took calculated risks based on limited information, acted rapidly, and adjusted on the fly. Many leaders swiftly created fundamental reforms that enabled them to engage customers in new ways, shifting away from the pre-COVID approach to digitization, which frequently required incremental technology adjustments to current business processes. Consider the quick expansion of Disney+.
They say bad habits die hard
Now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel—mass vaccination and the resumption of many activities in some parts of the world—companies will confront their most difficult test yet, one with long-term consequences. Is it possible for them to prevent relapsing to their pre-COVID negative habits? Can they create significant changes in a short period of time? Are they able to use the nimble and crisply executed management practises they adopted while survival was at stake in a post-virus environment? If anything, the pre-existing threats have grown in strength. And they won't be met by relying on the invigorating surge that fueled so much innovation and organizational grit. Working the equivalent of all-nighters isn't a long-term solution. Companies should know that reverting to pre-COVID poor habits is self-defeating, just as pandemic operational norms cannot carry them forward. It will be critical to keep some of these quick decision-making features in order to sustain urgency without overburdening organisations:
1. Engage People
Engage a large number of people, particularly relevant experts in the organisation and the company's ecosystem, as well as those who will be most affected by the decision, and then make swift decisions and execute quickly. When you are inclusive, you distribute responsibility. More importantly, those around you are aware of the problem and are working to find solutions as quickly as possible—and you may even discover the potential talent in employees at your company.
2. Keep decisions checked
Check performance indicators and fix components of your strategy that don't meet expectations on a regular basis when making key decisions. Identify the obstacles that are impeding the strategy and work to reduce or eliminate them. The obvious constraint was the necessity to keep people safe while the firm continued to operate during the pandemic. Almost any organisation could devise remote working strategies that met both objectives in a few days. Is it possible to keep that clarity?
3. Always evaluate decision
Consider the unintended implications of your decisions, especially to society and the environment in which you operate, and be prepared to mitigate them. During COVID, certain businesses, especially some glove manufacturers who chose to put profits ahead of worker safety. That decision cost them money and tarnished their reputation. Companies will have to evaluate the influence of their plans and operations on issues such as climate change, income disparities, and technology intrusions into people's life in the post-virus landscape, among other things. They must move quickly without breaking anything.
Give hope and never lose it
There is one more thing to consider as we evaluate these intentional ways and attempt to maintain the urgency to address important problems: we can lean into the possibility of producing hope. The epidemic is still a terrible, often frightening, and unfathomable occurrence. Yet, those who addressed concerns were the most effective at focusing their energies on things that individuals could influence and instilling a feeling of purpose. They took the initiative by demonstrating empathy and a desire to listen. They didn't just produce new vaccine models or new ways of functioning in the process; they also assisted people in building a bridge to a better future. With that, keep your chin high up and never stop making big and memorable changes to you and others!
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