DAN PENDER

Founder and Managing Director 360

ACTIVITY We’ve found that the most successful organisations are those that have accepted the pandemic for what it is. Rather than retreat to that bunker, they’ve confronted the situation and acknowledged that the game has changed. What worked in 2019 did not work in 2020 and will not work in 2021. Knowing this is allowing them to focus on building solutions and move forward constructively.

It is precisely that focus on solutions that differentiates successful organisations from the rest. Governments, industries, communities and consumers are all being challenged by the pandemic. They want real, workable solutions to their problems and they want them implemented as quickly as possible. Organisations that focus on action, will race ahead of their competitors in 2021.

OUTLOOK The simple reality is that businesses can’t afford to hunker down in 2021. Covid will continue to have a monthby-month impact on the economy and society, but a solutions-based climate is emerging. Caution is slowly giving way to creeping optimism. Personal savings are growing. Vaccination numbers will rise once the rollout begins. Lockdown restrictions will lift. Slowly but surely, there will be a return to normality.

2021 will not be 2020. It will be fast moving and every quarter will throw up new challenges and considerations. The best business and communications strategies will be attuned to this.

Businesses that are adaptable, with an ability to think in bitesized, quarterly phases, while keeping their eye on the overall bigger picture, will have greater success bringing their solutions to fruition.

‘Businessescan’tafford tohunkerdownin2021’