Survival, then recovery: The crisis playbook …
Okay, six months in and what do we know?
Firstly, a friend who runs a global Events and Marketing business out of California and who, for 20 years, has contingency planned to within an inch of her life, told me: “No amount of planning prepared anyone for this.”Her advice? Forget your forecast profit and your best laid pre-COVID plans … just, to quote a former football coach, play the ball in front of you.
“Survive, preserve cash and come out the other side.”
Secondly, she said, while there’s less going on, this is a rare opportunity to work on all those things that will reduce costs and improve business operations – especially digital initiatives.To that end, I’ve metaphorically pinned the following COVID-19 Checklist*, recently published in The Australian newspaper, on my office wall (that would currently be my bedroom wall).
1. The health and economic impacts of coronavirus will be continuous, non-linear and global.
2. State support of companies, such as government bailouts, means that governments will play an increasing role in corporate life, affecting everything from pay to customer engagement.
3. Even after the impact of the pandemic subsides, there will be anxiety about the prospect of another seemingly unforeseeable crisis.
4. Companies with strong balance sheets, excellent cost management and effective cash flow will likely not only survive, but thrive. Weaker organisations and small businesses may fail.
5. Some business models will change completely, including those that rely solely on just-in-time operations and thin supply chains.
6. There will be questions around being global versus being local. Manufacturing of essential products will depend less on foreign partnerships that can easily fail during worldwide crises.
7. The crisis will accelerate transformation, including digital transformation. In some cases this will be the catalyst for changes that leaders had long put off or pushed back against.
*Source: Russell Reynolds Associates
So perhaps it’s a good time to take a breath, step back, and ask ourselves: How efficient are our systems, processes and operations and how well do they connect us with our customers?
Then we can design and execute improvements, big or small, depending on our means and circumstances. It’s a plan to survive … and then thrive.
Kate Fitzpatrick appointed General Manager
A number of our clients have already had the opportunity to meet Komosion’s new General Manager, Kate Fitzpatrick, who officially
commenced her new role at the start of the month.
Today’s email also serves as an official introduction to those whom Kate is yet to meet.
A little more about Kate…
- Kate is highly proficient in Content Management Systems, user research and ecommerce systems, website design, product, SEO, digital content, loyalty programs, pricing and distribution across B2B and B2C channels and digital communications.
- She has project managed website builds for international learning management systems, digital reading worlds, food and beverage companies and financial services from big and institutional to small and off-the-wall. She works between technical and non-technical stakeholders to get the best results.
- Kate is a graduate of University College London, where she achieved a Master of Arts (MA) Electronic Communication and Publishing (Prize for top scoring student). Her thesis examined accessibility across the world’s biggest ecommerce sites.
- She holds a BA/BComm from the University of Melbourne, on a full academic scholarship. She is also a published author.
“I’ve loved the respectful, creative and innovative culture at Komosion and am thrilled to be coming on board full-time,” says Kate. “Reaching customers online is more important now than it has ever been and I look forward to leading the team in getting our clients where they need to go.”