The headline might alarm you because no business leader that I know of wants to see their business take a rest, especially during the troubled times we’re facing today. Taking a step back isn’t an option if we want to survive — right? But ask yourself this: Do you simply want to survive, or do you want to drive the business toward something bigger?
First let’s clarify what “rest” means in this context. We often think of rest as stopping work, reducing stress and taking a step back. But instead of completely stopping operations, which would be a financial strain on any business, consider taking a step back from the usual ways of working.
Businesses around the world today are feeling a desperate sense of urgency to move forward. Because of the economic downturn, uncertainty and lack of movement are killing businesses everywhere. Many organisations are burning through resources and seeing no results, which just isn’t sustainable.
The benefit of a “rest” is that it gives top management and their people the opportunity to step back and view the business and work in terms of the bigger picture. When you step back, you can see things you might otherwise overlook. It could be a weak point in the business model relative to changing market conditions, or a new opportunity that the organisation can pursue.
Considering all that’s happening — and not happening — in our nation today, what can businesses do to assess their operations to make sure they can move forward stronger today and in the future.
First, refocus the strategy of the business. The strategy you set early this year may well have been disrupted when the pandemic hit. If it can no longer sustain your business, it’s time to take a step back and adjust the strategy.
Second, test out new business models. Just as your strategy may ned a rethink, your business model was probably designed with different conditions in mind. Given changing consumption behaviour and the decline of the economy, we might have to revisit the model and test out different ways to reach and serve our customers.
Third, shuffle resources for optimal productivity. Effectively using limited resources is already a top priority for businesses. However, during a crisis, the strain can put a lot more pressure on the resources we may have, be it people, finances or time.
During this time of unease, businesses can take a step back and reorganise their resources to ensure they’re optimally managed for productivity. The only way this can happen is when the organisation can step back and look at the bigger picture.
Fourth, assess the organisational structure. While reshuffling resources for optimal productivity is one part of reorganisation, another involves assessing how the structure of the business should be modified to work more effectively during this time of change.
Finally, update your crisis management plan. A great way to make use of all this uncertainty is to look at how the organisation should prepare to manage the next big crisis. Depending on the volatility of the industry and business, organisations can decide how detailed they want the plan to be based on what they’ve learned from the current crisis.
The critical element of “business rest” is to create room for controlled failure. Failure is a reality of business and mistakes can happen, and this is a sign that the business is moving toward better things — if we learn from those mistakes.
While business as usual is the aim, the truth is, we know we will never go back to how tings were pre-Covid-19. Instead of waiting it out and doing the bare minimum, the best thing we can do for our business is to take a step back and shift the focus.
Whether it is optimising resources or revisiting strategy and planning, each business has the potential to get back on track, even at the worst of times.
Arinya Talerngsri is Chief Capability Officer and Managing Director at SEAC - Southeast Asia’s Lifelong Learning Center. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa. Explore and experience our lifelong learning ecosystem today at https://www.yournextu.com