We still don’t know how far-reaching the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on the economy. But we do know the negative impact across industries, from travel to retail to supply chain – is clear now, and experts are still debating what exactly the impact and recovery will look like, according to the World Economic Forum.
A slim few businesses were prepared for this kind of cataclysmic disruption, because we’ve never suspended travel, shuttered businesses, and closed all non-essential brick-and-mortar establishments in our lifetimes.
For managers, this means adapting on the fly to a crisis they haven’t planned in advance for. A carefully thought out solution is critical to navigating the torrent of bad news, unsettling instability, and uncertain level of damage the world is facing from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Managers will need to take better control of their business, communicate more effectively, and collaborate closely with stakeholders and colleagues – many times, from a remote location.
Technology Transformation: Effective software solutions are essential
Prior to this crisis, many organizations were carefully weighing taking the leap to a technology transformation. When coronavirus swept across the globe, it ushered in a new level of urgency to adapt technology – to communicate from myriad locations, to really understand the business, to control the supply chain, and to approach risk management with greater agility. Businesses that can’t get the technology right will struggle to compete.
Equipping a dispersed workforce with powerful technology requires adept IT talent to create a technology infrastructure that supports an almost entirely remote team. Implementing cloud applications, enabling mobile app development, and capitalizing on emerging technologies like artificial intelligences can help managers adjust quickly and efficiently from just about anywhere.
Better Insight, Better Control: Big data analytics implementation
In a crisis, managers often feel acute pressure to cut costs, and can turn quickly to downsizing. But if things bounce back quickly, your business will be wasting time looking for talent when you could be gaining competitive advantage. Managers should be empowered with powerful, insightful workforce data that allows them to leverage predictive analytics to plan for the right workforce demand today, and as things recover.
With so much up in the air, risk management often requires managers to plan for multiple scenarios. The McKinsey Institute looks at two scenarios for the economic impact, and business leaders may need to take a similar approach. What will the workforce and customer demand look like if we have a sharp drop in Q2 and plunge into recession? What about if we lapse slowly into a more prolonged recession?
Managers need the flexibility to model different scenarios and establish multiple plans to prepare in an evolving situation.
Effective Project and Business Communication and Collaboration
Especially in times of crisis, confident communication from business leaders is critical. And while the content of messaging matters whether that’s a business update in a quarterly meeting or a friendly weekly note, effective delivery, through Enterprise collaboration software, is essential. You can’t afford to botch your delivery with an untimely delay, which means getting your technology infrastructure and tools right matters just as much as what you say and how you deliver it.
In fact, you should strive to be the very first to share good news – and bad news, Entrepreneur advises. If you aren’t communicating, it’s likely someone will fill the information voice. This means your staff, colleagues, collaborators, suppliers, and stakeholders should all hear from you – and about the real state of the business and the coronavirus pandemic tears across the globe.
And don’t forget: share your plan for recovery with stakeholders as well.
What support do you need to help lead your business through this crisis? Although our Genies have never been through a global pandemic before, in our 30 years of experience we’ve faced more than a few challenges. We’re ready to put our technology expertise to work for your business so you can weather the impact of the pandemic and emerge more competitively on the other side. Tell us how we can help by starting a conversation at info@techgenies.com today.
