As the world begins to rebound from the challenges of recent years, it is time to take stock of your business. If the pandemic taught us anything, it was that we are more resilient and flexible than we had ever imagined. Restaurants shifted from indoor dining to take out and then to outdoor dining almost overnight. Local governments made swift changes to regulations that allowed businesses to move onto sidewalks and streets. New programs were quickly enacted to provide money to businesses and their employees. Alcohol regulations were even eased in many states to allow for take out beverages. Retail stores shifted to increased e-commerce sales to replace lost revenues. Many traditional activities moved online as presenters learned how to effectively deliver content virtually. Employees learned to work from home as their managers learned how to measure their performance.
Does a return to normal mean reversing all of the positive changes we previously embraced?
Hopefully, the best aspects of the lessons learned can be retained and applied to businesses of the future.
Here’s how to get started:
- Take stock of your business right now. What worked? What needs to be improved? What are your goals going forward? Did your goals change as a result of recent events? If so, revise them.
- Check in with your teams about your “WHY” (based on Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why and his TEDx talk “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”). How did recent events allow you to bring your WHY to life? Where did you come up short on living your vision and mission? Gather stories from your staff and record them as part of your legacy.
- Create high level financial goals and share them with your teams.
a. Have your team Identify the actions needed to support those goals.
b. Now get team members to help you identify measures that can be used to monitor the activities identified above.
c. Select two or three key measures. (Financial and Non-Financial)
d. Create visible dashboards to monitor changes in the measures identified above.
While times of stress create hardship and suffering for many, they can also be opportunities for finding clarity, for gaining new appreciation of the people, systems, and relationships that helped to keep your business afloat. With proper reflection, positive changes in your business can be the lingering result of the hardship you faced and better position you to face whatever comes next.
