There is no hiding it, the world is in crisis right now. Although we are observing some behaviours that suggest business and interactions will never be the same again.
We thought we would have a look and see if there were any positives shining through this fog of despair! and goes what? we found found some stuff which we think is awesome. We hope this serves to provide inspiration for where you take your own business or just relieve some of your anxiety as you realise that the world is going on and business is still being done.
Positive behaviours we are seeing?
Community: People are really pulling together and looking after each other which is lovely to see. It’s bringing neighbours closer together even whilst they’re being kept far apart and even online you can see new relationships being formed, bonds that are becoming deeper than they ever would at any other time and that are likely to outlast this crisis.
Effective communication: Because we’re now living and working at a distance, we’re having to put the effort in when it comes to our communication. We’re seeing this as a real positive, people really thinking about how they relate to each other and trying to prioritise face to face communications (albeit via video call) over just sending another email.
Flexible working: We’ve been fans of the benefits of flexible working for a while now and the current situation is acting as a massive adoption catalyst. What’s even more interesting is that this isn’t limited to desk jobs. We’re seeing manufacturers use techniques like split shifts and allowing work that can be done away from the factory floor to happen remotely.
Reduced travel: Whilst losing out on a much looked forward to holiday is never fun, we can’t say that the current reduction in travel, particularly air travel is a bad thing. Less cars on the road and planes in the sky is good for the planet and should lead to more considered travel behaviours once normal service is resumed.
Hygiene awareness: Everyone is obviously very concerned at the moment about controlling the spread of coronavirus, but our adoption of good hygiene practices, and our sticking with them as they become habitual should reduce employee absences and reduce pressure on the NHS during flu season in years to come.
Innovation: From local shops and restaurants setting up delivery operations almost overnight, to major international exhibitions and conferences moving their offering online, we’re seeing a massive spike in service innovation which will be really exciting to watch develop as the months roll on.
Support of small and local businesses: We’ve been banging the shop local drum for years and we’re really pleased to see the outbreak finally galvanising people to support the smaller, independent local businesses around them and indeed nationwide.
Collaboration and partnerships: We’ve saved the best until last on this list. The crisis has brought businesses together like never before, forcing them to work out high value, truly collaborative partnerships at short notice. The kind of arrangements we’ve seen springing up over the last two weeks would have most likely taken months if not years to even broker the agreement on in normal times and again this is a really exciting development for future economic growth.
As a secondary element to our “good news bulletin” we thought we’d take a look at a few of the sectors who are actually doing well in the current climate.
So, who’s surviving in business right now?
Anything IT. Hardware, software, IT support, computer peripherals. As people gear up to be able to work effectively from home, demand for all these kinds of products and services are increasing massively.
Call centre providers. As certain organisations have to deal with massive peaks in demand, suppliers of call handling services are going to see a huge uptick in demand.
Commercial and specialist cleaning. Cleaning services has always been a must do, but has been driven by cost rather than by service delivery in many cases. The typical workplace or public space has seen its priorities turned around completely and it’s good to see the best companies come to the fore rather than just the cheapest.
All Food Retailers. The current panic buying whilst challenging the distribution network of food retailers is giving them a artificially high season and also giving opportunity for additional employment as they scramble to cope with demand.
Logistics & delivery. As online ordering booms, there’s a massive and soon to be filled gap in provision of delivery services, particularly last mile logistics.
We hope we’ve cheered you up a bit by showing you that there is a bright side, even in this very dire situation. If your business could use a bit of our positivity and proactivity to take you forward and help you thrive through what’s to come, do drop us a line.
