It’s an unprecedented time in our history. The COVID-19 epidemic has turned virtually all business on its head. With virtually the entire world on partial or complete lockdown, this is the opportunity to examine what the business world will look like once we get through this pandemic. While many might believe that our world will dramatically change, it’s more likely that many people and organizations will want to “get back to normal” as fast as possible. However, there likely will be 4 key changes that will impact almost every organization.
1) Getting Smarter, Faster, Nimbler – The epidemic has shown that organizations that have been operating through traditional methodologies were caught flat-footed. Their inability for employees to work remotely, access information quickly and easily, lack of digitization and lack of employee empowerment have caused congestion at the least and complete shutdown at the worst. Coming out of COVID, organizations need to focus on examining and implementing approaches to simplify their processes, improving their ability to pivot, and empowering employees with the skills and resources to quickly solve problems.
2) Becoming Decentralized – Those organizations that were dependent on physical offices and locations to operate are being hit the hardest. Companies that are tied to old ERP systems that require an individual tethered to an in-office computer, or have one team controlling key parts of their process are feeling the impacts of a “single point of failure”. Organizations moving forward should immediately examine and identify ways to decentralize their processes and provide more power to individual employees to take customer engagements from beginning to end.
3) Improving Communication Skills – In a time of a major emergency, effective and efficient communication is essential. Organizations without clear and simple communication strategies are quickly discovering the hidden complexity of getting things done that was tolerated during the times of the status quo. Companies will need to fully review and audit their communication processes, along with determining the skillsets employees need to become more effective and efficient.
4) Examining Relevance – Do you matter? More specifically, do you matter to your customers in a time of unprecedented challenges? Organizations have a great opportunity to identify how they can help simplify and support their customers in this time of need. How can you identify ways to serve customers in a new and relevant way? One financial institution has gone beyond the trend of waiving overdraft fees and skip payment options and has developed a new service for every single one of their customers to create a $400 emergency savings account by a simple round-up auto-deposit.
There’s no way to predict exactly how the business world will change following the Coronavirus pandemic, but there’s no question that things will change. However, this is the opportunity to take a hard look at how your organization operates, and where improvements can be made. Don’t wait for the next pandemic, as you may not survive the next wave.
About the Author:
Andrea Olson is a strategist, speaker, author, and customer-centricity expert. As the CEO at Pragmadik, she helps organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to Fortune 500, and has served as an outside consultant for EY and McKinsey. Andrea is the author of The Customer Mission: Why it’s time to cut the $*&% and get back to the business of understanding customers and No Disruptions: The future for mid-market manufacturing.
She is a 4-time ADDY® award winner and host of the popular Customer Mission podcast. Her thoughts have been featured in news sources such as Chief Executive Magazine, Customer Experience Magazine, Industry Week, and more. Andrea is a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences and corporate events throughout the world. She is a visiting lecturer at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, a TEDx presenter and TEDx speaker coach. She is also a mentor at the University of Iowa Venture School.
More information is also available on www.pragmadik.com and www.thecustomermission.com.
