Ready for 'normal' in a Post-Pandemic World?
Jason Beckhurst
Independent Contractor | Transformation | Business Change | Operating Model | M&A Integration | Consultant | Leader | Director | Interim | #ONO
When the pandemic hit us early last year nearly every individual and business had their world flipped upside down. On a personal basis we were thrust into a different world, a world where we were left trying to comprehend, and deal with, social distancing, bubbles, furlough, working from home, home schooling, redundancy, loss of income as well as the fear of the health of our families, friends and that of our own.
To survive, businesses have had to adapt more rapidly than they have ever done before and, in doing so, learnt that they can deliver projects in just days or weeks rather than months or years!
Now that we can start to believe that we will come through the other side of this pandemic, and that our lives can get back to 'normal' in the (hopefully) not-so-distant future, it is critical that we quickly identify what we believe the future 'normal' to be.
To do this we can ask ourselves some simple but probing questions such as;
- What has worked well for our customers and how have their expectations changed?
- What has worked well for our people and what do they need or expect from us?
- What hasn't worked well? e.g. life in front of a screen or the feeling of isolation, and how do we improve on this?
- What are we missing? e.g. corridor/coffee conversations, and how do we replace them?
- What has worked well for the business and what should we start, stop and continue?
- Are we set up to harness our new delivery skills and continue to focus relentlessly on delivering at pace?
Asking, and answering, these types of probing questions now will give businesses the best opportunity to thrive, not just survive, when we land into a world with a new 'normal'.
I truly believe that life will, fairly quickly, get back to some sort of 'normal', the last thing most businesses can afford is to get left behind the curve and find themselves not set up to succeed.
Let me know your thoughts - Do you agree or disagree with my views? is your business prepared for 'normal'? do you have the skills and capabilities within your business to adapt? or, do you believe that life will simply revert back to how it was before and you have little to do to reset your offerings?
Retired Independent Engineering Audit and Assurance Professional
3yIt’s great to start pulling views together on what worked well or not so well as this will allow learning. What about adding in the learnings for the next pandemic? and the possibilities of this one not ending but evolving? New variants might now spring up every 6 months that need new vaccines developed? We might need regular winter lockdowns and effective tiers? People might need to be monitored more closely when symptoms arise? Smart watches might start monitoring Covid health and updating other systems? What if the new normal is in fact just the end of the beginning of the current phase of a pandemic that changes us forever? How ready are we to support staff that are too frightened to leave home, too frightened to be locked up at home, too worried to go to medical appointments? Too worried to ask for help? Too worried to say that their home office environment is making them ill? How will we effectively or virtually turn up at their desk and just chat, give them moral support? Arrange performance reports? Carry out disciplinary activities and allow for remote support that is really effective? There is so much change but people are the same... looking forward to reading and understanding solutions as people adopt best practice 👍
HR Advisor - Glory Global Solutions
3yReally interesting article Jason. When I moved into my new role / new organisation last September, I came in at a time where the HR teams had probably had the biggest change in direction brought about by the pandemic. We have been working to support the NHS staff and managers in a completely different way, helping to relieve some of the pressures to enable them to concentrate on patient care and,basically, saving lives. Whilst this change is deemed “temporary” until things are back to normal, I think it has created an enhanced service that should stay for the future - with some tweaks here and there to improve. Excited to see what the new future post-Covid will bring - and I’ve had my first vaccination so the light at the end of the tunnel is burning just a little brighter!
Executive Search | Executive Recruitment | Executive Search Consultant | Director Recruitment | Operations | Supply Chain | Procurement | Talent Acquisition | Veteran Coach | Veteran Advocate
3yGreat post Jason Beckhurst, thanks for sharing. You are right 2020 was a real roller coaster for everyone concerned. In many ways the pandemic was positive. It taught us what was important, it was a catalyst for many businesses to speed up their remote working policies and practices, it gave us more times with our families, focused our efforts on what our customers needed and many more things. I hope people can ask themselves the questions you posed, capture the positives, stop the negatives and not fall back into their old ways too quickly.
Director at LED Futures Limited
3yI think a lot of reflective practice is required. Rather than normalise the “normal” the last year gave an opportunity to adapt to unplanned change. The scope for different ways of doing things is huge but I think it’s important to realign and refocus on what the compelling vision is with much needed refresh and clear communications. Let’s also not forget about the businesses most valuable assets - the people... Purely my thoughts... A great article Jason Beckhurst and I hope you are well. Here’s to a healthy 2021.
Strategic Leader | Cultivating High-Trust Environments for Thriving Teams | Expertise in Transformation & Human Resources | Committed to Delivering Positive Business Outcomes
3yExcellent post, as you state the last 12 months has accelerated changes which would have normally taken years. Potentially the biggest challenge will be managing employees likely to fall into two divergent groups, those who wish to remain at home and those eager to return to an office environment. It could be a major challenge which will have significant impact on organisational culture.