The top ten list of overused words this year would indeed include "pivot." We are all looking at doing things differently, which is why this word has become so popular. Changing the status quo is necessary, but let's understand why we're making change and be open to the possibility of significant shifts in our products, the way we do business, our client's needs, and our employees' needs. There should be a purpose when the time calls for diversifying or innovating in the form of new products or new services. In a pivot, you are only picking up one foot, and your movement is limited. When you can move both feet, your options increase dramatically.
How do we do that?
Start with a deep understanding of changes in your business, your current needs, and what has evolved for employees and clients:
What has changed in your marketplace? What constraints and opportunities now exist? Who are your clients, and what? What do they typically come to you for?
What products/offerings should stay? Which conditions should be modified? Which should go?
What has changed for your employees? What has stayed the same? What needs to evolve?
Play #1 Client Engagement
In my business, we do many large keynotes, group sessions, and in-person workshops and coaching sessions. With the pandemic, this method of delivery isn't feasible right now.
The need for leadership, high performing team development, and executive coaching didn't go away. We can't do things the way we were doing them before. So how do we meet the need while we can't all be together in person? We can be together via video conference, like Zoom. We've found that in some ways, that video conference is better than being in person. Video group sessions with great content and the right facilitator are engaging, interactive, and entertaining. What makes them better? People are engaging from the comfort of their own homes, which can often break down barriers that exist when we are all in person. We can also get people together from anywhere in the world—there's no travel or additional expense required to attend. Distributed teams are now much easier to get together than they were before, and a new opportunity.
Meeting clients where they are, that's what we need to do. Refocus your efforts to deliver the experience/product that they need now.
Play #2 Process
Now is an excellent time to look at your processes.
What's in your control? Let's take sales: have you thought about what a valid lead is for you today. How do you gather leads in today's environment? Could you move clients through your pipeline faster—is your "getting to know you" stage too long, or has it changed significantly? What would make a difference? Is there a point in the process where prospects are leaking out? Take this time to fix your processes so that you can continue to move forward on achieving your goals, possibly even better than before.
Enhance the client experience, and the opportunity to be leading the charge is in reach.
What's not in your control? What challenges do you have with product availability?
In construction: are you reliant upon lumber, which is currently in high demand with skyrocketing prices? Could you use a different material? Or could you be sourcing differently? Taking a step back and surveying the current landscape can illuminate options you might not have considered before.
Are you hiring?
Lucky you! On-boarding looks completely different right now for many companies. How are you creating a great experience for your new employees? How can you recreate the "in-office" experience today?
Innovative organizations have great welcome kits, onboarding meetings, diligence around setting up mentors, continual communication, and engagement materials.
Play #3 Communication
A big challenge in today's work environment is communication. We aren't able to participate in the typical watercooler or hallway conversations today. Dropping by and walkarounds are on hold. When we aren't together, we are missing the physical aspect of communication, and body language is much more challenging to read.
In the absence of communication, people's brains go negative. They will make up a negative story in their head and will believe it until told differently. These are the reasons why regular communication is so paramount for organizations and teams right now. We need to get or keep people re-energized, motivated, and refocused to create that necessary momentum. Goals and priorities of the organization and will be clear that the work they are doing matters. Connecting them back to the big picture and helping them see their role is crucial, especially now.
Send a regular email every Monday morning outlining priorities for the week, create a newsletter that goes out bi-weekly or monthly and get the team involved in making it, have regular fireside chats, coffee talks, brown bag lunch connects, or watch motivational videos together. The options to connect and communicate are endless. Get creative and be consistent with your communication and watch how your employees respond and engage. Speaking of engagement, let's talk about that next.
Play #4 Employee Engagement
I recently read that a study showed lower productivity on Mondays and Fridays for remote employees of a large well-known company. The solution?
Bring everyone back to the office again.
Really?!?! So that isn't an option for most right now, and it will be quite some time before that will be feasible. Instead, let's look to fix the cause of the productivity issue. Why aren't they engaged on Mondays and Fridays? How could you encourage your employees to hit the ground running on Monday morning and keep it the momentum through Friday afternoon? Create a Monday morning huddle where everyone shares their top priorities and goals for the week and includes a celebration of the goals accomplished the prior week, so work is recognized. Could Friday be a "big idea" day where everyone gets time to work on their pet project where they are empowered to work on the intersection of what is meaningful for them, the team, and the company? Get creative-gather ideas-put them into place-and have some fun with it, and watch your productivity rise!
Another consideration, how are you leveraging your employee's talents? How could they be contributing more to the team? What do they have that your clients need? What is the common goal or challenge that your team could embrace, and each person gets to bring what they do best to work on it together?
Keep your employees engaged through intentionality. Do well-being checks: reach out just to check-in and see how they are doing, discuss what's challenging them right now, and how you could remove barriers and obstacles for them. Or you could talk about the latest episode of Away or another show you are both binge-watching on Netflix. The point is to connect and meet them where they are. This investment in relationships matters a lot right now and will pay dividends into the future.
Play #5 Focus on the Goal
Suppose you're familiar with the story of Apollo 13, where the mission went terribly wrong: an explosion ruptured an oxygen tank and caused it to leak rapidly. The crew needed to figure out how to fix it and fix it fast.
They were in big trouble and didn't have the apparent tools and equipment to address the problem. They were all sweating bullets. In a great example of synergy and teamwork, the ground team and the crew worked together to develop a solution and protocol for installing it. Mission accomplished! (It's a great movie by the way, and spoiler alert: they made it home safely)
What is your Apollo 13 challenge where "failure is not an option"? How could you get everyone engaged in solving your biggest problem?
Let's say your biggest challenge is growth and hitting your goal for the year. Let's say you want to grow your revenue by $5 million or even $500 million, and with all of the volatility, your original plan won't work. What can you do now? Some might decide to lower the goal by 25% or 50% and explain it away by saying, "it's too challenging right now, and we'll get back at it next year."
Personally, I think that is crap and not what a BOLD leader does.
Instead of changing the goal, change the plan to get there:
Are you used to doing all in-person meetings? Have virtual coffees instead.
Are you planning on lead gathering at conferences and networking events? Use video and video conferencing instead.
Your product isn't feasible right now due to distancing? How could you adjust it to meet your client's current needs?
Rethink your plans and processes and come up with creative solutions. There are TONS of examples of companies who have done this; distilleries making hand sanitizer, retail increasing their online presence, shipping products, creating bundles, and adding curb-side deliveries, restaurants creating special menus for families stuck at home, leadership development experts moving all offerings to online, etc. How could you gain economies of scale, increase margins, use inventory creatively, and apply innovation to your business? Many incredibly successful companies have been born out of challenging times. What if instead of looking at this as a downfall or paralyzing event, you looked at this as your opportunity to rise to the occasion and stand out from the rest?
Finally, keep the team energized and focused by celebrating wins along the way. Have your executive send an email to the group or each individual praising them for work well done. Celebrate excellent client feedback and stories. Recognition goes a very long way. Teams that are inspired will create and maintain momentum. You will keep moving forward on your goals and put the finish line back into your sights. Your team has the opportunity to complete the race with strength.
Play #6 One Step at a Time
Goals that at the beginning of the year seemed a stretch, yet attainable, might appear more daunting right now. Take your gigantic goals and think small. Break them down into bite-sized chunks.
Back to the Apollo 13 example: Thinking about getting a disabled spacecraft back to Earth, it sounds impossible. What if we tackle each obstacle and challenge, one by one?
First, we must make our craft be able to withstand the heat. What can we do about that? We have to repair our shields with the materials we have. Ok, done, what's next? We have a power problem. We must generate more power so that our thrusters keep us on the right path. Let's focus on that. What is each person on the spacecraft going to do at specific points of flight to get us safely back to Earth? Let's map that out for everyone. As you move through each small step, create a plan to maintain progress, and each person knows what to do to ensure success; this is how you build momentum.
Now's the time to run new plays, not pivot. Chunking it down and figuring out new ways of operating makes our big goals more palatable and do-able. You can always take the next smallest step, and then the next one after that. When you continue to take steps day after day, you will look back and be amazed at the progress you have made and look forward and see your goals within reach.
The toughest of times can seem overwhelming. When we refocus with a purpose and a great plan, we can shift gears, put the next steps in motion and be transformed for the better…forever. The opportunity is here, partnering with us will help you get your new plays into action now. Talk with Kim Svoboda of Aspiration Catalyst®. Connect with us today!