Many businesses across the country today are waking up to fear and uncertainty due to the widespread impact of the COVID-19 virus. There has already been a widespread economic impact nationwide and as expected, the many business operations have been halted or operating remotely due to the pandemic.
The impact of the COVID-19 virus as this global pandemic is already affecting the actions of the public and industries alike. The world is making a stand against the corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, taking precautionary initiatives. Some countries have taken a harder hit so far, and everyone is coping with the new reality in their own way.
Just the other day, businesses discussed their grand strategies for 2020 and built impressive forecasts for their growth. And today we all have to revise our plans and adapt to situations as they are. Some industries like travel and aviation are facing the worst of this crisis. Others are still at risk of financial dangers brought by the virus and disturbing macroeconomic trends.
When the news of the COVID-19 outbreak was heard, chances were high that at some point in the life of your business you would encounter an emergency. A good plan will help prevent panic and major turmoil in your life and the lives of your employees.
If your business does not already have an emergency plan in place, you should make that a priority on your to-do list. Do it now, today.
SPECIFIC PREVENTIVE MEASURES COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD TAKING TO KEEP THEIR PEOPLE SAFE
With a growing spread of the virus in the world, companies introduced specific working procedures and adjusted them depending on the situation. Countries around the world are encouraging people to do home quarantine to stop the spread of the virus. Companies are taking the following steps to keep their employees safe in the office:
- Supplying offices with disinfectants and increasing sanitary norms.
- Avoiding handshakes or any other physical contact with other people.
- Postponing any non-essential workshops or arranging them through online communications.
- Minimize face-to-face meetings, using online communication tools.
- Avoiding personal and business travels, replacing them with remote meetings.
- Introducing a 14-day quarantine after trips abroad.
After the quarantine had been introduced in different countries, all companies switched to the working-from-home mode and increased the preventative actions. For example:
- Banning all business travel.
- Conducting a “remote workload test”, gathering results and ultimately switching to the stay-at-home format.
- Stopping all face-to-face meetings, switching to online communication tools.
- Arranging all workshops and group activities via online platforms.
- Keeping offices operational only for those who must come to the office due to technical restrictions.
- Assisting employees who are traveling on a business trip and need to get back home.
- Increased focus on productivity, availability during the working day, more detailed reporting, attending all the scheduled meetings.
Source: MadeSimple
ACTIONS YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD TAKE DURING THE OUTBREAK
Businesses around the world are suffering from economic downfall due to the pandemic. But the businesses must keep running to ensure the
- Come up with a business continuity plan
Even if we fight the corona virus outbreak in the next few months in the best-case scenario, businesses will feel its impact of the economic slump even after the outbreak has been taken care of. So it’s important to have a long-term plan and not be afraid to take painful steps. Gather your brightest minds and come up with a contingency plan, revise your policies, rebuild the work of your functions, etc.
- Communicate with your employees
Your people understand that unprecedented times need unprecedented actions. Clear communications is a necessity, you need to be open about what is happening and what the company is doing to stay up and running. Launch virus awareness campaigns, communicate changes in company policies and encourage feedback to make sure everyone is on the same page.
- Prepare your technology and set up remote work
Depending on the size of your company, available resources, and technical restrictions of the projects you are working on, setting up remote work processes will pose its challenges. Start with analyzing your infrastructure and asking your employees about what they need to switch to the remote. Then you could run a test launch involving a limited number of people and expand it gradually to the whole organization, adopting a flexible work strategy for everyone.
- Stay optimistic and we’ll get through this together
The world after COVID-19 will not be the same. However, every risk is an opportunity. Those companies that accept the new reality, rethink their strategies, and rebuild their processes today will be able to use opportunities of the new world. Be effective, get things done, stay healthy and we’ll get through this together
Technologies that can play a vital role to increase productivity and maintain communication for the organizations doing work from home
Video conferencing applications:
As mentioned, communication will be vital during this time of crisis. And as a lot of us are working from home- it is imperative for businesses to set up a communication platform for employees and clients. Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts etc., are some of the popular platforms for online communications for organizations.
Time tracker applications :
During this quarantine period, many people have to work from their home. Working from home is a grueling task for many, the main problem being self-disciplinary. It is difficult for employees to get used to working from home. The challenges can range from scheduling to working efficiently to managing work. And we just happened to have developed a solution to help people who work from home! Our IntelliFriend is an AI-enabled app which tracks your work log and patterns, and schedules your tasks accordingly. Improve your work performance from home now with analytics and reports with your AI work partner.
Marketing Automation tools:
Marketing for your business should not be stopped even during this quarantine period. Digital marketing is one the best ways to promote your brand and reach out to your audience during times of crisis. With our eMarketing 23 solution, you can send over a millions of emails over a matter of minutes! eMarketing 23 solutions is proven to bring the best ROIs, no matter the size of the company. Automate your emails with automated delivery, responses, and building personalized emails. You can also import and export data, and integrate different APIs to suit your needs. Get a 360-degree analysis from reports of managing emails to numerous contacts.
Online learning tools:
Educational institutes are one of the most affected organizations during this pandemic crisis. Learners and instructors are forced to adhere to social distancing. And such, your typical learning environment is disturbed. But due to technological advancements, education services can be accessed through different platforms! Our eLearning 23 solution brings learners and educators on one platform to interact, and is customizable to suit your criteria. Assignments can be programmed to be automated or user-generated, study progress can be tracked or scheduled, and our solution even comes with gamification capabilities.
Chatbots:
At this time of emergency, it is imperative for businesses, especially banks and financial institutes, to run automated service operations. During the time of pandemic, the people will need a reliable source of information that can be accessed at any time.Our eBot 23 is an AI and ML based chatbot that runs your services for 24/7! The bot is programmable to send different packages to different customers automatically. And upon request, the chatbot can bring up account balance and bank statements. The bot also even has the capability to block missing cards upon client’s request. And the bot also can offer different banking schemes based on the client’s request or account.
Team Collaboration Tools:
For any business it is important for the organization to have a collaboration platform for everyone, especially when working from home. From content management to automating operations- platforms such as Microsoft SharePoint, Slack, Trello etc. are the best solutions for any businesses operating remotely. Collaboration tools make operations effective and efficient, as well as cut down on unnecessary work and expenses.
Virtual Reality products:
The outbreaks of corona virus have caused big tech companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft to recommend or mandate that employees work from home. While this is the safest course of action during the pandemic, it does inhibit collaborative efforts and opportunities for hands-on training. As these drawbacks become clearer enterprises will look for ways to smooth disruptions for employees, and one way will likely be Virtual Reality.
Companies have already identified Virtual Reality (VR) as a tool to improve employee training, but the corona virus could prove to be the impetus for some workplaces to implement the technology. Almost half (49%) of business respondents are looking to use VR and other extended reality tools to mirror real-world training conditions, according to a Perkins Coie survey. If kept at home, employees can keep their skills sharp with hands-on tutorials which previously may have only been available in a workplace setting. For instance, a technician can practice repairing industrial equipment without leaving their home. Additionally, a wider range of meetings can be held remotely through VR, as workers can better view and share complex ideas like prototype designs.
As we can see around us, the world has been stunned due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no denying the fact that a lot of tough challenges await us during this time of crisis. But what’s important is for us to cooperate and stay positive. We have to endure this time together, so humanity can go back to the normal day and have a bright future to look forward to again
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