Prepare Now To Succeed in the Next Normal

OK, I know you hardly have time to do what you are doing now with all that is going on, and not going on.  Still, this pandemic will be over and a next normal will be in place – likely in a few months.  Most agree that many things will change and that we will have new opportunities coupled with necessary adjustments to the way we do what we do, regardless of our role.

While very challenging, this situation can help us exit the experience with new and better ways to compete more effectively and serve our constituencies more satisfactorily.  To be successful in the Next Normal though, we need to begin our new journey now.  Like it or not, you are already learning and testing new ways of communicating with each of your audiences in their new environment.  You are also learning and testing new ways of working with your colleagues in new ways to solve for issues and opportunities.  Our recommendation is to capture these learnings and doings as you proceed.  The destination, and its hopefully early achievement, is very important for all of us, but we need to take advantage of the journey, arduous though it may be.

So, we recommend that you and your colleagues take a few minutes each day to reflect on what you are observing and learning – about how you do what do and how your audiences are doing what they are doing.  Capture these thoughts fully and carefully – easily done with today’s technology, e.g., Notes app on your cell phone or “old school” with a spiral notebook.  To curate a larger treasure of knowledge through collective wisdom and inspiration of multiple thoughts, use a digital platform such as Slack or Teams to share the combined observations and insights of your colleagues.

At some point in the not too distant future it will be time to open this treasure chest of knowledge, organize it and act upon it.  If you don’t have such a treasure, you will be behind in capitalizing on this extraordinary experience you have been enduring.

When you do open your treasure chest and sort out the riches you have gathered, we suggest that you convene a series of structured workshops (perhaps virtual) to assess what you have and how it should be deployed.  A thoughtful and well-organized approach to assessing and utilizing your treasure will assure that your collection and assimilation efforts are fully rewarded.  We at Endeavor are filling our treasure chest and are highly skilled at conducting these strategic workshops for organizations like yours.  If we can be of help in collecting and/or exploiting your treasures, let us know.

For an example of how Endeavor approaches client workshops, see https://endeavormgmt.com/tools/experience-design-workshop