Excuse Not to Or Reason To?
We’ve all been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in our businesses. I see a number of notices from those with whom I deal stating that they won’t be able to handle things as quickly as they did before the various “lockdowns” went into place – not unreasonable, is it?
But what if we did maintain service levels at the same standard?
What would this do for our business’ reputation if, despite the constraints of social distancing, we could stillrespond in the same timeframes? What if we took the attitude that we will provide the same levels of service because there’s a pandemic and high levels of service matter even more now?
It may well mean a change in the way we do many things. I have no doubt that more businesses are looking seriously at how much could be shifted to remote working if only they “can get the IT right”.
It’ll mean a change in work policies. I’ve seen articles stating that employers will be expected to offer work-from-home options as standard in the same way as they offer annual leave. They’ll need to think about how they make sure that work is being done (by whether the results are achieved, perhaps?). If the nature of your business doesn’t require you to gather people in one place from Monday to Friday, maybe it is time to change.
AT&T realised this back in the 80s when they equipped each member of their sales team with a laptop, mobile phone and (in those days) a free dial-in number to AT&T’s servers so that they could go online at client offices and get the data they needed. Once a month (or more frequently) they came into “Head Office” to update their laptops and have progress meetings with their manager. Otherwise, they were on the road. Productivity didn’t fall.
When we closed our business premises for 2 months and worked from home to keep our staff safe, we found that the bulk of our work could be done remotely. Contact was by email, phone, one of the messaging apps, FaceTime or Zoom. Occasionally we needed to refer to a “hard copy” reference guide, but one of the team would screenshot it and email it to us if needed (note to self: we need to advocate for more paper-based guides to be available online on a subscription basis).
If we commute less to work, we:
- Pollute less;
- See less congestion on roads and public transport;
- Spend less money on travel (save more);
- Waste less working time travelling;
- Have more quality time to spend on other things.
What’s not to like? Equally, if employers don’t need everyone in all the time, they:
- Save money on premises (rent, utilities, cleaning, insurance);
- Benefit from a more engaged and productive workforce.
At the moment, it looks like the only potential losers will be landlords and public transport providers!
The pandemic is forcing a change in our “professional paradigm”. Let’s seize the opportunity to change the way we do things for the 21st Century.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Crisis Management, Customer Care, Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
Commuting: A Blessing or Curse?
An article on the BBC website claims, “The daily commute provides “bookends” to the workday.” The author describes a worker who had to use three modes of transport to get to/from their office in the USA. Reminded me of when I commuted in the UK (and I als o used three modes of transport).
The author claims that one of the advantages of the “bookending” that commuting provides is the separation between work and home. I always remember getting off the train at my platform at the end of the day after a 45-minute journey (which turned into 1¼ hours when we moved) out of London, breathing in fresher country air and knowing I was “away from it all”.
The problem, claims one expert, is that home and work life are no longer separate. A commute offers the chance to disengage (or, re-engage if the other way around). I have to confess, with the advent of mobile communications (starting with the “Blackberry” in my case), being able to get through emails on the way up, or to read the morning papers and arrive at one’s desk “ready to go”, was great.
The commute home (luckily involving a long train journey) could be used for reading reports, writing offline on my laptop, or (bliss!) reading a novel. My fellow commuters used to listen to music on their personal devices, sleep, chat with other friends on the journey back. One could use the time to think things through, “zone out” or otherwise reflect on what had happened during the day and how one might improve the situation.
Fast-forward to the days of social distancing and one is now “living at work” or “working at home”. If one has children, this situation becomes more complex….
In my professional life, I’ve had commutes up to 1 ½ hours door-to-door, or as short as 15 minutes. In some countries, people clearly like to live closer to work; in others, they don’t have the choice. As technology advanced, we could do more “on the go”, allowing better use of time at work.
Would I prefer to work at an office? There are plenty of advantages, not least feeding off each other’s ideas and being able to meet clients on “central ground”. At home, one has fewer distractions (assuming the kids aren’t excited that “Daddy’s home”) and can work on projects requiring concentration. Some businesses have arrangements that allow employees to work from home on certain days provided that it isn’t a Monday or Friday and that they actually have something to accomplish. I have memories of my days in Hong Kong and going into the office on long public holidays for a morning and accomplishing more in half a day than in two full ones or work, simply through having no distractions. I could also get in relatively quickly.
In short, the commute is a blessing or curse, depending on how you travel, how long for and where to/from. On a summer evening, watching the Hampshire countryside unroll past my train window on the way home, it was bliss. On a cold, dark winter night when I could see nothing, I might as well have been on the London Underground.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Career, Productivity
Effects of COVID-19: Conclusions (2)
I’m watching and learning from global reaction to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s no doubt that some countries have handled it better than others. Some have also had some “nasty surprises” …
The time for “blame games” and recriminations will come later; let’s first learn from the different types of “fallout” we’ve seen. My first article was on “Social Fallout”. After that I wrote about “Supply Chain Fallout”. Travel & Tourism came next, followed by a closer look at the Garment Industry. Then Leadership & Administration, followed by IT and Security implications. Academic fallout came next, then Economic fallout. Another aspect that would have impacted many was the effect on cities. I looked at payments and banking more recently and then other problems. I then looked at what, if any, positive results had been seen. Last week, I started my conclusions, so we’ll call a close here.
Continuing the theme of work where I left off last week, Business Continuity Plans will have to consider pandemics more seriously, especially as there are warnings of more “waves” of COVID to come.
On the subject of cities and towns (where many of us work), it’s become clear that few are “designed” for social distancing. Urban planning will change, building regulations may require “decontamination zones” and isolation areas. “one-way” pedestrian systems may come into force for good.
Whether the world economy will recover to pre-COVID-19 levels is up for debate. Chances are low. Global supply chains and routes will no longer centre on China. Concentrating one’s strategic supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other vital supplies in one country that may itself fall prey to a highly contagious virus, or has a history of abusing its power, is not the best idea (whatever the cost saving). The push of globalisation “took jobs away”, but COVID and a resulting push for “regionalisation” (and even localisation) of strategic supplies are likely to see them come back, with the consequent impact on prices, jobs, economies, suppliers & buyers.
Health services are being told to “gear up” for another round as the winter season comes around later this year. I suspect also that, in future, governments will react faster to threats of a virus coming to their shores thanks to the miracle of modern air travel. Airports and all points of entry will see their screening capabilities “beefed up”. As this happens, so too will the use of IT and “big data” - tracking apps, along with the inevitable concerns about just who has access to location data…
China will face world scrutiny and (possibly) sanctions. This has already started happening and a newly assertive China is pushing back – sometimes not so subtly.
The final conclusion? Learn from every crisis and take action. Vietnam learnt from the SARS outbreak and successfully controlled things (mostly). We can’t expect democratic governments to react quickly, hamstrung as they are by legislative checks and balances. The UK dithered and now has one of the highest mortality rates in the world, coming in at 12th place (down from fifth).
In the US where people consider it a constitutional right to increase their risk of contracting the virus by not wearing masks coupled with too-early easing of movement restrictions, we’re seeing an exponential increase in infections. The country now has the world’s highest infection and deaths.
The EU has just agreed (after much internal wrangling) an EUR750billion rescue fund for economies devastated by the virus. Other regions and economic blocs won’t be so lucky and will rely on World Bank or IMF largesse with the inevitable harsh conditions.
On a personal level, we can all take action without waiting for governments to help or to tell us what to do. If we look at any natural disaster (hurricane, mudslide, earthquake, etc), we see that state support and guidance are usually slow to come (sometimes for reasons beyond the government’s control) and are often insufficient when they do. Being sensible (social distancing, proper hygiene, wearing masks, having supplies of food at home to weather a certain number of days “inside”) all contribute. Have the “preppers” actually got a point here?
Sadly, the “developed” world has grown complacent over the years. Mother Nature has given everyone a salutary reminder of who’s really in charge. Let’s not forget.
I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Crisis Management, Leadership, Risk, Social, Teamwork
