Four Lessons Businesses Can Learn From COVID-19
With unprecedented changes sweeping nearly every institution across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic brought devastating consequences, taking merely weeks to redefine life as we know it. The sudden disruption affected the world socially and economically, forcing businesses to make critical and seminal decisions on the go. Also, it inexorably transformed the workforce to accommodate the new normal – new modes of communication, new work patterns, and new team dynamics.
But there is a silver lining amidst the typical outcomes of COVID-19 for businesses globally, such as layoffs, disrupted processes, operational risk and making up for months of lost revenue. The invaluable lessons we’ve learned to support our business operations even during the most challenging circumstances. Below are four lessons that you can learn from an economic downturn to better endure another crisis.
1. The Cloud Is an Essential Piece of Business Infrastructure
It should not surprise anyone that cloud computing is here to stay. And in light of recent developments, among the most valuable technologies that a business can offer. As on-demand needs skyrocketed, the cloud came to the rescue and provided people with an internet connection with unlimited access to a vast repository of applications and tools. Organizations offering SaaS are already well aware of the advantages a cloud delivery model offers, including the ability to share one infrastructure among multiple customers. But it’s not just customers driving the cloud’s success.
Organizations, too, are revisiting their strategies to compete in a post-COVID world. Hence, cloud services will be pivotal in increasing resilience and agility. Cloud computing provides an on-premise infrastructure with unparalleled flexibility and easy access to files, prevents data leakages, and lets organizations scale their operation.
2. Organic Mobile Processes Enable Workers
A cloud-based solution is an important first step but not a catch-all for success. Supporting every worker requires implementing modern, mobile-first solutions – especially for those working remotely or out in the field. Detailed visibility into every minute of employee time is necessary to visualize emerging patterns hidden within complete data sets. Only then can meaningful adjustments be made that positively affect the company and employee productivity. Allowing employees to capture real-time information makes all the difference. Rather than waiting for data to come in, managers can use real-time information to create the biggest impact on productivity.
Mobile solutions hold many benefits, giving employees unprecedented visibility into vital data – from project plan to execution. Besides, there is a growing convergence between Information Technology (IT) and Operations Technology (OT). Therefore, organizations today rely on mobile solutions to increase accessibility, create a connected workspace and simplify all forms of work from in-office to remote with single sign-on (SSO). Thus, a mobile-first approach effectively increases employee satisfaction, decreases turnover, and improves the employee experience.
3. Social Is Key
Using social is the best way to connect with workers, remote or otherwise – but this isn’t the social most would imagine. While social does play a powerful role in connecting workers, customers, and organizations, the ‘social’ we are referring to here is a bit more nuanced. It refers to an organization enabling employees to work together with a solution that is built to support collaboration and communication using workflows across teams, departments, regions, and countries. The goal is to enable these critical working alliances with a flexible and scalable unified platform, replacing manual workflows and eliminating multiple siloes to protect businesses – especially in times of need.
‘Social’ allows employers to monitor employee morale and interact with them personally. Social platforms empower you to connect with your employees and update them on important company news and events. In addition, you can share on-premise social activities, new acquisitions or partnerships, and highlight birthdays and work anniversaries to increase employee engagement. These engagements, in turn, will help your employees reach their full potential.
4. Manual and On-premise Solutions No Longer Make the Cut
Many small, mid-sized and even global organizations still rely on ad-hoc, manual processes to get the job done. However, relying on error-prone manual administration only guarantees that processes will break sooner or later. An ERP implementation may appear stable on the surface. Still, the moment trouble arises – a pandemic, for example – the system is effectively shut down, rendering it inaccessible if it is entirely on-premise. Therefore, it’s time to use these uncertain times as a wake-up call and ensure that safety and security are built into an organization’s system from the get-go.
The increased adoption of the remote and hybrid workplace models due to the pandemic and the fourth industrial revolution has highlighted the need for moving away from manual, legacy systems to intelligent systems, especially for tracking time and resource management. Managing resources and efficiently tracking employees’ time is an integral part of business growth, regardless of industry, product, or service. Thus, the right system can enhance your organizational agility, flexibility, and scalability, while dramatically increasing productivity and efficiency.
Take Advantage of the New Post-pandemic Reality
The onset of the pandemic has forced organizations to reinvent how effectively they can utilize tech solutions to automate their processes. Project and time tracking are core processes for any business. Existing challenges have shown us that we need resilient enterprise systems to help us with these processes as they tie directly into resource productivity, utilization, project and business profitability, and other critical business metrics. Thus, investing in an effective solution can revolutionize how you manage your projects and resources when the world throws you a curveball.
