Surface Ripples

COVID: Here to Stay

… at least for the moment.  The coronavirus pandemic is shaping up to be a long-drawn-out affair.  We have the perfect virus here: one that mutates regularly so that it can’t be eradicated quickly.  It still needs to move on one more stage which is not to kill its host (that way, it would shed the need to mutate so often), but perhaps this is nature’s way of ‘thinning out the herd’?

Whatever happens, governments, businesses and institutions the world over will have to look at how to ‘live with it’, rather as we do with the perennial ‘flu bug’ that grips certain countries at a regular time every year. The best we can hope for at present, it seems, is to develop vaccinations and boosters to build up sufficient immunity.  Perhaps even now, children are being born who have ‘natural immunity’.

So, assuming that the virus isn’t going away anytime soon, how do we adapt?  Much has already happened in terms of social distancing, working from home (WFH), remote learning (that was something predicted in sci-fi movies of the 70s) and almost constant mask-wearing (again, predicted in earlier post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but for different reasons).  

As business leaders, we need to ask how we need to (and can) adapt to a new order that is likely to be with us for some time.  What will we need in terms of (among others):

• People?
• Technical skills?
• Soft skills
• Leadership skills?
• Equipment?
• Premises (and refurbishments to cope with social distancing)?
• Staff needs and scheduling as they cope with the impact on their families?
• Rostering?

Businesses specialising in food and goods deliveries have seen their income grow.  Tools like Zoom for teleconferencing are also in high demand.  PC and laptop sales have also seen heavy growth as people WFH and students update or purchase laptops for the first time.  Internet providers will also have seen an increase in demand and (hopefully), income.  

Many have accepted the need for masks, social distancing and vaccination.  A minority of die-hard ‘freedom expressionistas’ have decided that society’s duty to them and their ‘rights’ outweighs their obligation to their community, but that’s the price of free speech and democracy…. Some will, sadly, succumb to coronavirus (we have already seen examples of this).  How do we ensure our businesses and people aren’t among them?

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience 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, Financial, Leadership, Social, Strategy, Teamwork

posted by William Martin @ 11:53