Photo Credit – BRM Institute (BRM Connect 2019)
Join the Experience – Make it Matter!!
Today we are in a moment of truth that clearly indicates that we have no control of how long will the pandemic situation persist?
People from all over the globe and organizations of size from small, medium and large enterprises are brainstorming options to define new business models, create alternate sources to sustain and stay relevant.
There is tremendous pressure for professionals to prove their mettle, value and benefit to the organizations they serve to remain in demand.
I believe firmly on Napoleon Hill’s quote that would be applicable in this time of crisis.
“Each and Every Adversity has a seed of equivalent or greater benefit”
It is time for us to look at the situation with a positive approach to unravel opportunities that we have never seen before with a fresh pair of lenses.
This blog brings about some of the critical aspects that individuals and organizations might consider to turn this situation in favor of their future
This lockdown has brought in a great opportunity for individuals with a time window at their disposal to attempt things they have never done before
My experience interacting with people from different parts of the world in the last 2 months reveal the following benefits
- Taking time to focus on health and well-being along with spending more time with family to bond
- Taking time to reflect on the most important projects, initiatives to kick start that will pave the way for long-term benefits
- Discipline to time box activities that matter the most so that they can improve productivity and achieve their short-term goals
- Up-Skilling to build T-Shaped and Pi Shaped Profiles on areas of Process, Technology, Products and Best Practices.
- Developing an Agile Mindset of Adapt and Adopt will become crucial to enable new ways of working and connecting with the ecosystem
- Exploring areas out of the box to find true meaning and purpose in the activities we do for Personal and Professional endeavors
- It also has created opportunity for us to think about our community of friends, colleagues, citizens across the country to support in ways possible.
- Finally, it reaffirms the concept of not taking things granted and taking time to enjoy the small little things to make one happy every day.
From an organization stand point, there are few stand outs that have emerged clearly as key focus areas
1.Employee Engagement Index:
Organizations are increasingly focused in creating an environment of Psychological safety and Emotional Well-being for employees. With no domestic support available and both parents working, it becomes extremely difficult to manage work-life and employees are extremely stressed. There is also high level of uncertainty among employees on implications of retrenchment, salary cuts and possibility of dissolving some of the exiting roles.
This is one of the key areas to be addressed in the form of leadership communication via Town-hall meetings, Managers 1-1 with employees and more importantly recognizing the power of people and value to business for reassurance purposes. Many organizations have also deployed counsellors for providing platform to employees to reach out and discuss personal and emotional issues affecting mental health. We are seeing people in IT increasingly being impacted on mental health and it is imperative for organizations to have a close watch of events and actions that impact employee health and well-being.
The biggest question to answer is “How do you treat your employees during the tough times and adversity situation?”
“How companies respond to that very question is going to define their brand for decades. If you rushed in and somebody got sick, you were that company. If you didn’t take care of your employees or stakeholders and put them first, you were that company.” – Mark Cuban
2. Customer Experience:
Customers and Business Partners are predominantly focused on business continuity plans and contractual needs to serve end clients. There is a shift of priorities from holding on new initiatives and execute aspects that really matter for the organization goals. This is the best time to see, how you can add value to your client`s experience journey.
- It could be an enablement session or an hour of free consulting to help in areas outside contract scope but would make their job easier.
- Sharing resources for learning and up-skilling in the form of demo and practitioner led sessions for the employees
- Presenting data trends and demand shaping techniques that would help Clients and business partners gain competitive advantage.
- Going that extra mile to provide coaching and mentoring for a sustainable success journey.
“They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel.—Carl W. Buehner”
3.Up-skilling
The only skill that will be important in the 21st century is the skill of learning new skills. Everything else will become obsolete over time – Peter Drucker
Organizations must invest on learning and development needs of employees to enhance their skills and equip themselves adequately. Digital Platforms have provided great reach to attend virtual instructor led sessions including experiential learning like business simulations to put learning in to actual practice. The ability for people to learn and grow motivates them to be more productive and competent in changing business and IT landscapes. DevOps Institute Upskilling Report 2020 is an example of skills in demand for DevOps Professionals.
Finally, in summary It is becoming evident that COVID19 situation reinforces the need to improve the customer experience and employment engagement index. So, I am pretty much convinced that we all will have work that focuses on delivering an enjoyable customer experience. The only way we can do that is by looking at their entire customer journey map and work towards improving the holistic aspects (Value streams). All our experiences and expertise will become handy. Technology improves lead time but if we don’t design well (Process, Goals, Business Metrics) we will fail in the pursuit of achieving business value and customer delight.
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Suresh Seetharaman
Suresh is a BRM Practice Head and a seasoned Principal Consultant and has over 27 years of experience in different facets of Business Relation Management, IT Service Management, Project Management, Training and Development, Business Development & Application Development areas. He has earned wide range of certifications that include DevOps Foundation, BRMP, CBRM, and ITIL 4
