Based on your learnings of 2020, what are the things Business Leaders should – START Doing, Stop Doing, and Continue Doing

Leaders are always on stage, so put on a Stellar Performance – Libby Gill

When I read this phrase in a report, it made me reflect on several parts – Leaders in whole, but also ‘in the making of Leaders’. What better way than use this simple tool of Stop, Start, Continue

Given the current pandemic scenario, this kind of nimble method is highly benefiting.

Stop Doing -

1. Prioritizing Profits over People
2. Micro-managing and long-driven plans
3. Deferment of Technology advancement

Start Doing -

1. Knowing Your People, utilize virtual meetings to best ability,
2. Fair and Timely Transparent communication
3. Balancing act of Sharing Information

Continue Doing -

1. Employee Value Proposition in the crux
2. Enhance Culture index to drive the Value system.
3. Emphasize on Talent Development to remain Time-appropriate.

START Doing: Giving focus to mental well-being and being more learned about it.

STOP Doing: Prioritizing technical skills over values/behavioral requirements.

Continue Doing: Giving flexibility to employees and promoting hybrid work model.

Top THREE Business Trends for 2021 to START doing:

Location Independence and Virtual working world: The trend towards virtual offices which takes advantage of remote computing and video meeting capabilities enable a business to run independently more effectively of physical location. Thanks to COVID-19, which has changed the way to look at the workplace.

Collaboration-based innovation and development: All of the above trends add up to another tremendous game-changer-collaborative innovation and product development. Think of it as crowd sourcing the R&D function. This type of business model holds great promise because it can lead to the creation of products that have built-in demand. After all, the product was conceived and developed by collaborators from outside of the business, including potential customers.

Cloud computing and Bots: Cloud computing has the potential to dramatically change the way businesses use computer technology-replacing the need to buy and maintain computing systems and hardware with a much more cost-effective, on-demand model, similar in nature to the ways in which utilities provide water and electricity to businesses today. Automation of the processes which will not require Manual intervention.

Start Doing -

1. First and the foremost focus must be on Employee Health and wellbeing and then ensuring continuity of work through remote working or Distributed Workforce. To ensure Business Continuity, leaders should Start thinking through how to organize work for a distributed workforce.
2. Remote working is not just about more than giving people a laptop but also ensuring regular engagement through different digital platforms. Some of the rhythms of office life canÂ’t be recreated and therefore, it is all the more important to instil a sense of belongingness.
3. Digitization was, of course, already occurring before the COVID-19 crisis but not universally. There is a new and fast-improving set of digital and analytic tools that can reduce the costs of operations while fostering flexibility. Do not Start but Accelerate Digitization! Companies that have gone digital are adapting to the crisis better than their peers. We should use technology to augment, not replace, people.

Stop Doing -
Companies should stop assuming that the old ways will come back as return after a pandemic will be a gradual process and the stages will vary depending on the sector one operates in.

Continue Doing -
Companies and their Business leaders should continue to focus on rethinking the organization, rebuilding operations, recovering revenue, and accelerating the adoption of digital solutions at a faster pace as speed here will be an important factor.

As a new normal emerges, a pragmatic view of a better future and our ability to lead through transformative times will come again and this seems specifically relevant.

In my experience, all the companies have done a great job in designing the business continuity plan without any compromise on employee safety, stability, and security.

Running the business successfully with 100% workforce working remotely, surely reflects a few of the great practices which we have adopted, and we should continue to practice in our future. The leaders must ‘CONTINUE’ being empathetic towards their employees. They should build on the trust and affiliation which they have earned and established by continuing to be present, action oriented, empathetic, and fully transparent.

Post covid-19, the leaders must ‘START’ building the trust with the employees which they have earned during the crisis. The work design and thinking must shift from:

1. Manage to enable.
2. Maximize the use of technology.
3. Unleash transparency by Communicating and Interacting more with employees and customers.
4. And last but not the least, ‘Act with more humanity’.

The leaders must be more compassionate, interactive, and must be more understanding with their employees.

Nothing much, which I can highlight on ‘STOP’ doing things, but I believe that micromanaging employees and teams is surely not the future! So as a leader one should only focus on work productivity and ROI.

Business Leaders should – START Doing: