The current quarantine situation has caused the business world to freeze and change the rules on how businesses can survive over the next few months. This will lead to long term changes where some businesses will not survive due to their inability to adapt to the changing situation. However, businesses will be able to survive by developing certain strategies that will allow them to say agile and capture opportunity. Here are five ways you can make your business more agile during the quarantine.
1). Find new market opportunities
Most people will look at the quarantine and all they see are lost business opportunities. However, there are two sides to every situation. First, you have the opportunities that no longer exist. Second, you have all new opportunities that can lead to enhanced revenue. For instance, if you operate an IT company, you may not be able to deploy your teams to offices because non-essential companies are closed. However, there will be a surge in demand for video conferencing. Many companies will have to be brought up to speed on how to conduct seamless video conferencing among multiple parties. Your IT company can be instrumental in ensuring that these companies can perform fast, securing video conferences. It is recommended that you make a list of new market opportunities that have arisen since the quarantine and see which ones are the fast, easiest, and most cost-effective to execute.
2). Work with an agile coach
The quarantine is an unprecedented situation that has caught just about all businesses off guard. This is a perfect time to get some outside help to allow you to make the most of this situation. One of the best types of consultants that you can hire is an agile coach. Now you may be wondering what is agile coaching? Simply put, agile coaching allows you to streamline your operations so you get the most out of each employee. An agile coach will show you how to optimize your operations and how to be able to adapt to changing situations. Qualities like this will become extra helpful during this quarantine situation where the future of the business landscape is completely unknown.
3). Enhance Autonomy
Another way you can make your business more agile is to enhance some autonomy among your staff. You will want to give your employees some latitude to make decisions that can cut down performance time and allow your organization to run leaner. For instance, you can cut down on some of the approvals that teams have to make in order to get anything done. If your marketing team has to get an ad approved by three different people, then cut that down to two people or one person. The more layers that you can cut from any approval process, the faster your business will be able to operate.
4). Plan for the unexpected
No one honestly knows when the quarantine is going to be over. We could be looking at a quarantine situation that lasts for months or even years. That’s why you want to have a plan in place no matter what happens. Work with your team to have a contingency plan for a short term, intermediate-term, and long term quarantine situation. This will allow your business to react best no matter what happens.
5). Communicate a clear vision
Everyone in your business should know what the vision is going into the future. That means you should let your employees know the core values of the company, the target market, and the product or service that is going to be sold. By having everyone on the same page, you will be better able to manage overall operations.
Putting it all together
The quarantine is going to be one of the biggest tests for your business. The very survival of your operations will depend on the agility of your business and your team. You can keep your team agile by finding new market opportunities, getting an agile coach, enhancing autonomy, planning for the unexpected, and communicating a clear vision. Take as many of these steps as possible and you could find your business coming out as a leader no matter what happens in the coming months and years.
