The implementation of the
Nightingale Hospital in London’s Excel Centre, and similar hospital openings
across the UK and around the world have one key thing in common. They all rely
on the expertise of a broad group of experts working together. Like an
orchestra, as individuals they are trained experts, as a coordinated and
harmonious collective they bring a whole that is so much greater than the
individual parts.
In the case of these new Covid-19
hospitals, they have brought together not only the expertise of medical staff
but also the logistics and deployment of the military, the knowledge of the
building and construction industry, engineers, delivery partners and many more.
As individuals, each has their own expertise but none has worked in quite the
same type of crisis. However, by pooling their knowledge, resources and
experience as a collective they have planned, co-ordinated and delivered in an
extraordinary way.
As businesses, we are also going
through challenging times, no matter what our company does we are all affected
in some way. It’s difficult and not a crisis that any of us, as individuals,
have ever had to deal with before.
So in these unprecedented times,
what can we learn from the medical facilities that are being built quickly and
efficiently across many countries?
A key lesson is to draw on the
expertise that you already have available to you. In the case of the Covid-19
hospitals, it is that which is available to each country. For a business, it’s
that which is available through the organisation.
So what is available? There is
the existing board of directors, including any independent directors or
Non-Executive directors who will bring knowledge of other organisations, ways
of working or other crises they may have worked through. The senior management
team as well as the teams around them and all employees of the business who, as
individuals will be able to bring differing viewpoints, often challenging the
status quo by sharing knowledge from the lives they lead outside the business.
Committees of the board, whilst having a clear role in the normal workings of
the company have an opportunity to advise, contribute and share
knowledge.
Bringing this broad experience
together, potentially in a Covid-19 Committee to coordinate knowledge, with
sub-groups working on individual aspects of the response, is one way that a
larger organisation can respond. Even smaller businesses will need to be able
to identify and respond to the many facets of the crisis, drawing on networks,
contacts and colleagues.
Identifying the areas of focus is
key, including:
- Employee related:
not only salary continuity but also
well-being, support, communication, setting expectations from the business
and by each individual;
- Product/service continuity or adaption: rapid adaption of products has seen many
businesses able to develop new products that help the medical profession
or others. It has also shown those businesses that have been slow to adapt
either in their existing services or products or in modifying them to
current needs;
- Financial: identifying what is needed both now and over the next few weeks
and months, supplementing where needed whether through furlough schemes,
delayed payments, borrowings or restructuring financial models;
- Technological: ensuring employees can work from home, that
systems remain secure, communications are effective, new technology is
applied effectively, hardware is available, support is provided;
- Facilities: if
a building is needed for essential working, does it remain secure, clean,
available. Have the new risks of virus spreading been identified and
mitigated? Is distancing possible for key workers? Can disaster recovery
centres be used so split site working can be implemented.
Finally, don’t forget the future. When working through a crisis it’s too
easy to only focus on the near term impact, the 'here & now' requirements.
As these lessen in priority and a new way of working starts to appear, it is an
opportunity to look to the future.
Do you have a team available who
can look at the company in the post-Covid19 environment? How will your business
look? Will it be the same, or is this an opportunity to change? If the latter,
where are the opportunities and what planning can be done now so that the
company is ready? Can you take any actions now to build for the future? What
lessons are being currently learnt that will be invaluable for the future? If
you are drawing on the wider expertise already available to you, what value can
they also bring in your planning for the future?
Is your business one that can
learn and adapt to survive and thrive in the future? Utilising the expertise
already available to the business and pro-actively acting and adapting provides
opportunities for near term survival and longer-term success. Can you conduct
your orchestra successfully?
