Surface Ripples

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 21^st 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

posted by William Martin @ 09:02