This pandemic is taking lives, disrupting society, and taking an axe to our economy. 

It would be so easy to focus on the bad, the negative, and the depressing. But that stuff is obvious. We are living it. 

Personally, I see opportunity ahead! I see opportunities to grow my business, help my clients’ businesses grow, and support my community. Are you seeing them too?

Here are three positives that have come out of this… 

1. We’ve discovered just how resilient we can be.  

The coronavirus has forced many small business owners to get comfortable with working accommodations for staff that we have tended to avoid for many reasons. 

We are adjusting too. Just before Mecklenburg County issued the stay-at-home order, my whole team started working remotely. And being accustomed to an office, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to transition to a desk in my son’s bedroom.  

But here we are.

In a short amount of time, my team has transitioned, we have helped our clients (who could) to transition, and other organizations have pivoted as well. Here in Charlotte, businesses have stepped up to serve in the midst of chaos. That’s resiliency. And we are succeeding at it. 

My takeaway: We can trust our staff to be productive working from home. This creates opportunity.  

2. The coronavirus has opened the door to refine our business models. 

In the world of COVID-19, it’s become easier to imagine business models that make better sense for our companies and our employees without compromising our excellence.

Now that work-from-home is going smoothly for your business, what other opportunities are created? To my mind, the coronavirus can help us reimagine how to…  

• Reduce costs by cutting unneeded office space.
• Improve morale by providing a better work-life balance.
• Stay healthier by supporting unwell employees or workers with sick kids.
• Keep productivity high with increased remote collaboration. 
• Grow productivity more by expanding the when and where of work.

And this ties into my final thought…

3. The coronavirus situation may open up the talent pool. 

The coronavirus should make us consider whether workplace norms (or technological limitations) have kept us from a talent pool of professionals who require something different than an onsite position with an eight-to-five schedule.      

How many moms can’t contribute their skills because offices don’t offer remote capabilities with flexible hours? How many innovators are overlooked because they need workplace accommodations that allow the pursuit of a life-long passion?  

As businesses, we’re learning how to be more flexible. And this might open our eyes to a talent pool that’s waiting for us.   

What are your thoughts? 

Granted, there’s a lot of techy stuff that needs to happen before you adapt your business model. You may need to cloudify your on-premise servers through a serverless office methodology, find the best communications solution (such as Microsoft Teams), and execute other tasks.

What are you thinking? 

What opportunities do you see?

How can I help you?

I’m encouraging my colleagues to reach out so we can discuss this topic together. If you’re a business leader, call 704-464-3075, or send me a note at info@weareproactive.com.