As companies start thinking about how they will “open up” when the threat of COVID-19 starts to diminish, the need for critical thinking skills is greater than ever. The decision of when and how to return to business is uncertain, but one thing that is for sure is that the “normal” we knew in February is unlikely to be with us any time in the near future, if we get back to that at all. Another thing that is certain is that without the critical thinking skills needed to plan and adapt it is unlikely a business will return to a sustainable future. Here are some key areas to think about as you get ready to return to business:

Strategic Thinking – The strategy you had earlier this year needs to be revisited in a COVID-19 world. Social distancing, fear of contagion, disrupted supply chains, dislocated sales channels, high unemployment and sudden economic uncertainty all need to be considered in this strategy reality check. We recommend that you review your strategy through a lens of scenarios, testing what different future situations look like, how they impact your business and how you’ll respond. With a few scenario plans, you’re ready to react quickly as the situation changes. We recommend working with your best customers/distributors to get their perspective on what is happening on the ground in assessing what to do and when to do it.

Operations – How are your employees handling the current situation? Will they be ready to answer the bell as you shift to opening for business again? Now is the best time to move beyond platitudes that employees are your most important assets. Reach out to them, find out if they are afraid (and if so, of what and what you can do to alleviate those fears). Get their thoughts on what work will look like in the future. They are going to be more committed to the company if they think they had a say (or at least their fears were heard) when it comes time to move forward. We recommend you use a Priority Analysis process to get the issues on the table so they can be worked through in an open, transparent manner.

Planning – Depending on how the COVID-19 lockdown has impacted your company, you may need to do substantial planning to get ready to operate again.  This could entail Priority Analysis to make an assessment of current readiness right through Project Management to work on the specific deliverables. And don’t forget Opportunity/Benefit Analysis: While we often look at a crisis like we’re going as purely negative, there could be new opportunities that come about if you’re open to them. For example, many companies are finding that many of their employees can work from home with improved productivity.

Potential Problems – There are plenty of potential risks as we move from crisis mode to some state of operating normalcy. Now is the time to consider these so you can consider ways to mitigate these risks and decide on actions to take if the risks happen. This will prevent pure firefighting so you can focus on those problems that can’t be anticipated. Our Problem Prevention- Risk Analysis process provides this critical thinking structure here.

Problem Solving – Despite all the best planning and problem prevention, problems are going to happen, especially in our dynamic current situation. It is just impossible to know how things will play out but being able to solve problems quickly may be the difference between companies that survive over the coming months. Our Root Cause Analysis has been used from the shop floor to the executive suite to identify the cause of a problem and take action to fix it without trial and error. 

Decision Making – There will be many decisions to make as you open up for business and the stakes have never been greater to make the right decision. Our Decision Analysis is a tested process to consider your objectives and decide which alternative best meets your objectives.  While there may be pressure to forego a thoughtful process to make fast decisions, it is best to avoid this temptation and work through what the decision is going to achieve for your company. Our experience is that decisions made without proper consideration often take more time to correct than the time required to make the best decision in the first place.

 We can help

Ideally, your employees tasked with specific responsibilities already have the skills discussed above. We work with companies to develop these skills in employees to they are ready to apply them as needed. This is still our preferred operating method so that our client reaps the benefits of our training over many years. But we know that time is more critical than ever and the current situation requires agility. There may not be enough time to develop these skills in your employees because the current situation is that urgent. So we are offering to facilitate use of our processes as they are applied to the current situation your company is facing. We’ll work closely with your employees who are most knowledgeable about the specific issue and they will learn our critical thinking skills through facilitation and coaching.

We’re happy to discuss either training your employees or facilitating use of our processes on current issues your company faces as it gets ready to open up in the COVID-19 world.