Has your small or medium-sized business changed its daily operations during this global health crisis? Chances are, your entire way of doing business has been adjusted due to the need to slow the spread of this highly contagious virus. Today we will be taking a closer look at how businesses across our region are adapting to a new way of running their business.
Remote Workers
Remote workers were once the exception to the rule. Some companies allowed occasional flex time and remote work in certain circumstances. Gone are those days. Now most businesses that can, are having employees work remotely. From software companies, to marketing firms, and law offices, more and more Americans are working from their homes.
Will this trend be maintained as the country slowly opens up? This remains to be seen, but many employers are noticing a spike in efficiency that they once only equated with in-office work.
Reliance on Technology For Communication
The bi-weekly staff meetings that could drone on for hours have now been replaced with Zoom meetings, Google Meets, and abbreviated emails to cover the same types of information. Some employers will argue that this shift in communicating with each employee about what tasks they should be working on has been the most difficult adjustment
Technology, such as the video teleconferencing apps mentioned above, have helped keep co-workers in touch with each other, but so has project management software such as Podio, Trello, Wrike, LiquidPlanner, and Asana. These software programs have become wildly popular in recent years but have become a necessary lifeline in the last few months. Without this technology many businesses would need to rely on what seems like archaic methods like shared docs and email to stay abreast of projects.
Ecommerce and Customer Outreach
Many businesses that rely on a solid customer base have shifted their entire model of operating. Businesses that once operated out of store fronts have been forced to changed the way they do things. We have seen ice cream shops, restaurants, and even gift shops switch entirely to an ecommerce model. Small businesses that rely on customers getting out and stopping in their shops have started bringing their wares directly to the people. Companies that would not normally deliver are now making individual deliveries of their merchandise.
The ecommerce revolution has long been a part of daily business in America, but this latest crisis has forced many to take that final step and create online shopping sites, link to delivery services, and create a way to reach out to their customer base as long as their customers can not get to them.
Follow our blog to watch these trends as America begins to open up and businesses get back to what can only be referred to as a “new normal.”
