Returning to business as unusual?
As we begin to head out of the other side of lockdown, many businesses can begin to think about resuming some of their normal operations, or if they’ve been forced to close, may be able to start to plan their reopening. For other businesses, the lockdown may have resulted in working in a different way, perhaps in terms of remote working or method of sale, or both.
So the question is; what lessons can be learned from lockdown? And is there an argument for not returning to ‘business as usual’, but rather taking a moment to consider which elements of the past few weeks may actually be worth rolling out going forward?
Adaptation
Regardless of whether or not businesses want to return to business was as usual or not, due to the continuation of social distancing rules, some businesses may not physically be able to return to the way they were before. Businesses may need to have short, medium and longer term plan in order to phase in a gradual return to the workplace. Most businesses will require changes to be made to ensure that workplaces are ‘Covid secure’ and the sooner businesses put necessary measures in places, the better a position they are likely to be in.
Revisit your business plan
The course you started on at the beginning of the year and the plans you had in place may well have drastically altered as a result of Covid-19. So before launching headfirst into returning to business as usual, it is worth reviewing your business goals and objectives. For some businesses, survival will be the priority and finding a way through will therefore need to take precedent.
List the positives and negatives
Although many businesses have been negatively affected by lockdown, this isn’t universal and some businesses may have been able to continue their revenue streams, even if operating in a slightly different way. There may therefore be some positive lessons to take forward from this period. For example, not having to commute to a place of work may have been beneficial for staff wellbeing, and not travelling to meetings may have saved significantly on costs whilst not having had an adverse effect on communication.
Many businesses we work with have been working in a different way over the last couple of months. Human beings are surprisingly adaptable and it may have come as a surprise to some businesses how well their teams have been able to function.
Ultimately for any business, it will be a case of working out what is viable – balancing revenue streams with the safety of their staff.
Agenda’s team are working with clients to establish new business plans for the remainder of 2020. For many businesses, how they adapt over the next few weeks will be crucial. To speak to one of our consultants, please get in touch.
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