CRISIS : A STEPPING STONE

The times of crisis always changes the world. Great Individuals and Organisations lead this change and mediocre one’s perish. The crisis is always the best time to introspect. Focus should be inwards. What it actually gives, is time to make necessary, but neglected changes. This is true for both individuals & organisations. This looks a very obvious step but where people majorly fail is in implementation / action.

Having said that let me help you in charting this course / steps : What are these changes? How can one find what changes are needed? What to be done to implement the changes?

Let’s Dive in:

How can you find what changes are needed?

The most important aspect to change is to accept that change is required. Many individuals and organisations are always on negation mode. We always feel that we are doing the best we can and there is nothing to improve or nothing to change. So the following steps are very important:

1. Accept that there is always scope of improvement in the process / efficiency.
2. Find the bottle necks / areas where there is always a hand to mouth situation.
3. Find areas that are always part of discussions –

INDIVIDUAL: I cannot find time / I cannot read so much / I do not get motivated / etc. ORGANISATIONS: we have less people / we have older machines / we have less time for the same.

In short – List the NEGATIVE comments that are commonly discussed, find solutions for the same.

Examples are better teachers & easy for understanding the concept:

INDIVIDUAL: I never get time for reading books / exercise, is it only me? I am sure its with all of us. Use this Crisis to change that. How? You have been working from home – so you are saving time on travelling to office / to customers. Utilise this time for reading & exercise. You can best do alternate day and do both the activities. Take control of your time.

ORGANISATIONS: Setting processes correct is always a neglected issue when the sales is going good. Organisations have least priority on the same & rightly so, Sales is the first priority as it generate revenue / resources are overloaded. Now, the crisis is best time, as in here resources are not overloaded. Use this opportunity to set correct processes to increase overall efficiency.

How can we implement the change?

Once you have identified the task half the battle is won. You can only make progress if you take actions on the same.

1. Have a brain storming session with stake holders to understand what are the pain points & how they can be eliminated.
2. List out the highest priority pain points, elimination of which will significantly increase efficiency.
3. Put a clear action plan with roles and responsibilities.
4. Keep tracking the progress and make changes in line with the plan.

So to sum up following steps can make Crisis as a stepping stone instead of a showstopper.

1. Identify the bottlenecks / pain points.
2. Create a plan for resolution / elimination of the same with clear responsibility.
3. Track progress and guide way to final achievement – Increase in efficiency.

I can confidently say that this will surely help in bouncing back better and managing costs to the “Tee”.

I would also like to know your ideas to increase efficiency, please share the same in comments.