Every crisis requires a coordinated, agile and personalised response. Generating a plan based on the reuse of resources, approaches and solutions can lead to management failure. The ideal is to follow procedures and instructions that offer an alternative to normal operating conditions, so as to allow the organisation to function, even if some of its functions cease to do so because of an incident.
Before charting this logical course, it is essential to answer three questions: What is the risk and what effects can it cause? What can we do to minimise the impact as much as possible? How are we going to prepare for another possible incidence? The coronavirus pandemic has led to a situation of enormous uncertainty in which the duration and impact it will have is still unknown.
It has changed the way we live, even the way we work. In the latter, new paradigms have been introduced based on remote working, safety distance, the mask, hybrid formulae with colleagues in the office and others at home... The challenge for companies is to address the situation in the best possible way to boost growth, increase the productivity of their employees and ensure business continuity.
The vision of the future is complicated by the new normal. And one of the most repeated mistakes is to make short-term decisions for today rather than for tomorrow. The ability to adapt will determine the survival of many companies. Therefore, it is key to have business visibility to carry out a mapping of critical factors, a classification of these and their location in a risk matrix. With all this, it will be possible to determine which are the operational, financial and occupational threats.
Although Digital Transformation has a lot to do with it, people are the key pillar. Without them, there is no possibility of working and, therefore, business viability is not feasible. The first step is to expand technological capacity, but it is also very important to manage talent, emotion and the ability to adapt to new scenarios. Without a working environment where everything flows in spite of the reality we are living in, productivity will plummet.
The most successful roadmap is to find that travelling companion with whom to build a contingency plan that identifies risks and problems and has a clear scale for mitigation actions. This way, at least you can make sure that each of the steps you are taking is effective and flexible. If you stop, you will end up being guided by the toxic combination of inaction and paralysis. Decide what you want to do and surround yourself with those who share your determination to carry it out.
In the face of challenges, resilience is vital. It is essential to walk the path by improving processes and structures to restore competitive positions forever. This crisis is not only revealing the vulnerabilities of less disruptive organizations, it is also bringing to the table opportunities to improve business performance. Drive technology adoption within a plan that makes your company more resilient to impacts, more productive and able to offer the best options to your customers.
Navigate to the new normalcy with cutting-edge actions to address the coming years of the pandemic that changed everything. An essential decision that will help you, and it will help you a lot. According to a study by an international consultancy firm, only one in 10 organisations had a contingency plan to deal with a crisis as tough and unexpected as the one we are experiencing. Innovation, and proximity to both your clients and your employees are undoubtedly the best weapons you have to get through this.