How to boost your business’s agility in the wake of COVID-19

Let’s start with a question well worth answering: what exactly is “business agility”? HRZone claims that the term “refers to distinct qualities that allow organisations to respond rapidly to changes in the internal and external environment without losing momentum or vision.”

Those qualities are certainly being rigorously tested in the current climate. If your company has struggled to adapt to the “new normal”, here is how you can prepare for the next big disruption…

Promote a culture of change in your workforce

Setting up your business for success is never a finished job; rather, it is an ongoing investment, whether it is money or energy being expanded. In a survey mentioned by YourStory, 76% of CEOs expressed concern that their firms could falter if they fail to keep up with changing technology. 

Therefore, the onus is on you, as a business owner, to implement schemes that will spur innovating and upskilling – and develop your employees to ensure they can rise to the challenge.

Be proactive in suggesting alternative technology

When business processes are interrupted, it can be too tempting to issue a short-term fix rather than address the fundamentals of why that interruption occurred in the first place. In other words, you could be so focused on treating the symptom that you forget to tackle the underlying cause.

Therefore, whether a certain piece of tech seems to be the weakest link in your company’s chain, you should act quickly to explore and put forward alternative solutions.

Put together your company’s lockdown exit strategy

Much like governments around the world are facing a difficult balancing act between protecting economies and minimising COVID-19’s threat to human lives, so your business has a similar conundrum to think about. How can you protect both your company’s staff and its finances?

Implementing unified communications by Gamma, a respected provider of UC services, would make it easier for you to transfer employees between the usual workplace and their home office as and when the COVID-19 picture locally dictates. 

Keep track of anti-COVID regulation as it is introduced

The World Economic Forum points out that, in the aftermath of the financial crisis a decade ago, various governments introduced over 15,000 pieces of new legislation aimed at buttressing the global financial system against similar shocks in the future. 

You can expect a similar raft of legislation to be enacted as the world recovers from the pandemic – and you should prime your business to make sure it can adhere to new rules and regulations quickly. 

Choose technology that augments, rather than replaces, your workers

Your existing staff members are just as skilled and talented as they were before the pandemic struck. Therefore, you should make sure that, in weaving such software solutions as Microsoft Teams and Zoom into your firm’s day-to-day workplace practices, you help your workers to genuinely do more. 

Used in the right way, technology can help your staff to work more productively – and, in turn, deliver improved products or services to your customers or clients. That’s a win on multiple fronts.