Certainty (andcommunicating) inanuncertainworld
How the principles of PR, Communications and Change management keep business flowing
When the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said “Panta Rhei” in 500 BC, little did he realize COVID 19 would change the world and how we communicate. Who couldguessthatthroughmuchof2020, businesses and brands would engage customers through a face mask?
If Heraclitus’s one constant in life is change, thenthese topchange-management principlesarewhatshouldbestguidebrands and businesses through the future.
1. The only certainty in an uncertain worldisthatitcan’tbeachieved. Acceptit. Thosewhoget to the final stageof grief first, are best positioned to readjust. The companies that did best in 2020 had the agility to accept and move on. They pivoted and readjusted to meet new customer needs.
2. Validate. By building and testing your business step by step, you are protecting yourself from incorrect assumptions. This sometimes means failure, but it’s better to fail fastandearly, thanbuildingandlaunching a business model on false assumptions. Validation is the process that gives you the agility topivot in a crisis. Thankstomodern technology, there are statistically validways to quickly and easily ensure your strategy is on target with the market.
3. Mitigate. Identify your risks and mitigatethemthroughahuman-sciencelens. Pay attention to current behaviours and subcultures with a look to predicting the future. The seeds of today’s biggest business trends were actually planted years ago. When you take a look through the rearview mirror, you can see that the trends accelerated by COVID actually began many years ago. Namely:
• Working from home.
• Online shopping, banking and videoconferencing.
• Digital medicine.
• Distant education.
4. Navigate the waters by going with the flow. Companies who do this often stay afloat during rough waters because they are agile and adaptive rather than fearful, para ly zed and stuck in the past. Structural ly, operations are flexible enough to allow for quick decisions and adaptive plans. Employees are em powered to make decisions. Leaders aren’t afraid to be wrong and start over to get it right. Companies that rely on bureaucratic processes, group-think decisionmaking and are status/ title-driven often fail spectacularly during difficult times.
5. Stay close to your customer. Theearto-the-ground, always-on investment you make in listening to your customers helps to mitigate risk, manage conflict and foster trust. During these times, no one wants to hear you shouting your facts and stats from the rooftops. Hiding behind data and stats is the old way of doing business. Today, we need the old-fashioned two-way conversations with real human beings. Showing you care and are willing to do the right thing, is notonly the right thing todo, it’s agreatmarketing tool that shows you are in touch. As much as things change, connecting with people in a human way will never go out of fashion. That’s as true today as it was 2,500 years ago in Heraclitus’s time.
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