4 tips for business continuity in a crisis
There is no arguing that the corporate world has been rocked to its core by this year’s COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is still possible to maintain certain levels of productivity in your company by taking steps to adapt to the wave of change that has engulfed small and large businesses alike. Take a look at the following tips to help your business stay afloat and survive this as well as future financial crises.
Communicate with your employees
It is crucial that while making plans to help your business survive through uncertain times, you communicate these plans effectively with employees. Like everybody else, your employees are likely to be worried about their health and how they will continue to work with so many businesses shutting down. Be sure to share plans about the way forward so that any insecurities about work that your employees might have are addressed. This will encourage workers to continue to do their best, even with all that is going on.
Remember to be compassionate and try to be lenient with employee off-days. Prioritize the well-being of your workers. Once the dust settles, people will remember how their companies treated them in a time of crisis and are more likely to be loyal to those who treated them well.
Embrace remote work
Although several employers are reluctant to trust their employees to work efficiently from home, stay-at-home orders and the financial crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic have given them no choice in the matter. The best you can do is to ensure that your business transitions smoothly into this new normal by making sure that you provide employees with adequate and detailed guidelines for working from home. Go a step further and make use of virtual offices to help boost your company image and keep things professional amidst all the chaos.
Take advantage of technology
Fortunately, technology exists for facilitating remote work. For instance, G suite from Google is excellent for promoting productivity using collaboration software. Another useful application is Microsoft Teams which enables workers to video chat and collaborate together on Microsoft Word files. Zoom is another popular video conferencing tool that many businesses have started to rely on to stay connected. Figure out what kind of technology best suits the needs of your staff and integrate it efficiently with your business procedures. Also, invest in secure backup services and cloud storage tools so that you and your staff can easily access the information no matter where you are.
Develop a disaster plan
Prepare your business for the worst-case scenario. It is not too late to start planning, although it has been almost half a year since the start of the battle against the COVID-19. Draw up structured remote work policies that touch on topics such as virtual meetings and tools that your staff need in order to work efficiently from home. Pay particular attention to insurance coverage which is crucial in the event of business closure and look out for alternative and flexible supply chains for your business.
Take the time to evaluate what is still working for your business from the pre-COVID era and what needs to be restructured. Remaining static has been the death of many businesses during this crisis. So, be sure to embrace and make the necessary changes to your business model for your business to thrive.
