Last week, I published the following excerpt –
Those permanent adaptations will seem clumsy at first, just not the same, but permanent nonetheless. And the clumsiness will become practiced, and those among us who practice will become competent at a new way. And the new way will improve on par with the old way. And, we will wonder what took us so long to get over our resistance.
Now, a list of questions, from which I would like to get your response.
- In your business, what have you learned over the past month, that you did not know before?
- In your business, what changes have you made out of necessity?
- In the changes that you have made, what might become permanent?
- How are you practicing those new things, to become competent in those new things?
- In your business, what is likely never to return?
Post your comments, I am curious. -Tom
Tom,
Great questions. Do you mind if I share with those in my community and
report back to you?
Oh, by the way what are your answers?
In your business, what have you learned over the past month, that you did not know before?
We’ve been in the business of “social distancing” for 21 years. We just didn’t call it that. We’ve always helped our clients grow by aligning their technology and marketing with their strategy and sales, to effectively conduct commerce and communication virtually. In the past it was about increasing efficiency and expanding sales reach. Today it’s about saving lives which is far more important. Our mission as a company just got profoundly more impactful.
In your business, what changes have you made out of necessity?
100% mandatory remote work. Most of us have worked remotely before (I was remote for over two years), but we’ve never had to all do it all at the same time. I’m am impressed at how quickly and seamlessly my team adapted, with less than a 6% hit to productivity in week one. We expect to actually be on track this week.
In the changes that you have made, what might become permanent?
We’re using video chat constantly out of necessity. I suspect many of our voice only conference calls in the future will shift to video now that we and our clients are all more comfortable with the concept.
How are you practicing those new things, to become competent in those new things?
We’re using it multiple times every day…
In your business, what is likely never to return?
Well, I hope that the entitlement we’ve had as a society to completely take for granted that we can go to any store and get whatever we want whenever we want doesn’t return. Or that we can order almost anything else and have it magically delivered to our door step in two days or less. I hope that this shakes people out of their self-absorbed tunnel vision lives and changes how we appreciate each other and all of the blessings we have in this world. I hope this draws people closer together and shows them that although it’s wonderful to have all this technology to allow us communicate much like you and I are right now, nothing beats seeing a person’s face , shaking their hand or giving them a hug.
• In your business, what have you learned over the past month, that you did not know before?
A: Business Continuity Plans have value.
A: How helpful video, not just audio, communication has been for remote staff (using MS TEAMs in our case).
A: Daily Cash forecasting
A: Daily HR short email updates to all staff
• In your business, what changes have you made out of necessity?
A: Daily Exec standup meetings. Enlarged our VPN/Remote access (glad we had a large firewall). Lots of sanitizing, hand washing and social distancing for our Production staff.
• In the changes that you have made, what might become permanent?
A: Improved Business Continuity Plans
• How are you practicing those new things, to become competent in those new things?
A: Daily huddles
• In your business, what is likely never to return?
A: Anxiety over how to pitch Outbound video business development calls with customers (something we had started back in January). Many of our customers asked for an in-person visit . Our goal was to make these sales calls remotely via video (much more efficient and cost effective.)