A Post COVID-19 Reopening Guide for Small and Large Businesses

After the months-long hibernation period during the coronavirus outbreak, it is time for business leaders to make difficult choices to put their companies back on track. While the hibernation has been tough to deal with for both employees and the management, the reopening will need the leaders to stand up and make tough decisions for the organization to recover or even survive.

During this moment of crisis, organizations need to make straightforward decisions and come up with a clear path forward for employees and other stakeholders to feel at ease. The time is now for people in leadership roles to shoulder their responsibilities and create a strategy for a smooth transition path to the new normal.

For instance, we have already seen leaders making the decisions regarding the reduction in headcounts and the closing of stores and accounts with clients that were not profitable or even making a loss. Additionally, many organizations are reducing their overall costs by allowing the team members to work remotely from home. On the other hand, such flexible working arrangements have helped men and women to make more time for their children and eliminate the time wasted on daily commutes.

Many personnel at the managerial position are grasping the fact that the occupying costly office space is an unnecessary expense, especially when team members can work efficiently at home. There are many initiatives like computer system upgrades requiring a lot of planning and large budgets. Such processes are now being done much faster at a lower cost, making it easier to meet new challenges posed by the virus and could well set the tone for the future.

In the span of a few months after the coronavirus outbreak, organizations were struggling to set projects' deadlines and budgets, making their outputs costly and behind schedule. In the future, we might see a more disciplined approach in product delivery. Further, the travel-related expenses have cut, and video-conferencing software, such as Zoom and Skype, have proven their place as a replacement. Companies are finding that such digital alternatives are an ideal solution to save both time and money.

The meetings conducted in the office setting often sidetrack and result in no meaningful outcomes. On the contrary, when team members' meetings take place online, participants get straight to the point and identify actions that need to be carried out by each team member. During a moment of crisis like the ongoing pandemic, internal teams and the people leading them have more responsibilities to help the organization survive and make it through to the other side.