Prepare to Pivot
In times of crisis, everyone has an increased focus on how to adapt, adjust and make sure their business is in a great position to not only survive the crisis, but thrive through it.
A crisis can take many forms. It can be the loss of a major customer, loss of a significant revenue stream, forced closure during a health crisis, or loss of significant employees. The key is to prepare as well as you can to be ready to pivot and change those things over which you have some level of control to meet the current situation.
Preparing to pivot involves a few key elements. First, while this might sound simplistic, it is really critical to completely understand your business. What are those things that you do really well? Who are your top customers or clients, and what problems do you solve for them? What is your company known for? What skills and talents do your employees have? This is a time to think about how you can address your most important customers’ needs in an innovative way that works within the constraints of the crisis. Potentially, there are opportunities for providing solutions to new customers that you may not have had previously.
Next, it is important to be seen as a calming, steady voice in your industry. In times of crisis, we often see otherwise steady individuals succumbing to a form of panic. This will not enable the level of clear thinking needed from a leader to pivot their business. Step up above the fray – demonstrate your competence through clear messaging, calm discussion, and being able to outline very clear next steps for your organization.
Finally, while it is not time to throw away your yearly business plan, it is time to take a short-term focus to keep moving forward, or to recover from a potential loss. After defining your desired outcomes, get some top-level thinking around some strategies to achieve those outcomes. Determine what and how you will measure to know whether you are on track. This is the time for everyone on your team to have a clear focus. Everyone needs key performance indicators, or targets, to track to on a weekly basis.
Team communication is critical – in times of crisis, as we prepare to pivot, the leader needs to be in constant communication with their team. Checking metrics, providing messaging, listening to the employees’ concerns will allow the leader to be in a position to pivot as necessary.
One fabulous tool to help with pivot planning is the One Page Business Plan – this simple tool serves as a dashboard for integrating strategies, key performance metrics, and activities to keep your company focused. For more information on the One Page Business plan, send me an email to: mpatton@odastrategy.com – we’ll chat to see if the OPBP can support your company in their preparation to pivot.
