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Consultants, contingency plans

The fancy terms use the words “contingency plan” or “business continuity.” A year ago, if were wise and prescient you'd have named it “scenario planning”. In the moment, it's alarming and confusing.

In my syllabus, the text for the 3/16/20 (day that we get back from our spring break) was “The Big Lie of Strategic Planning” by Roger Martin (ex-Monitor, ex-dean of Roman). It's a good read and is worth reading. In the beginning, I had this assignment due to it being class #15 from 28, (approximate middle) for the term on strategic thinking. A good time to consider the unpredictable, tangled market you think? Sheesh – Hella true, now.

When you read this article, there's probably a high likelihood that you're working at home, and your children trying to work in a different room. The stocks across the US are down 30percent which means that the situation has changed since Covid-19. I've been living in my house for the greater part of the week and making meals all day long. Everyone needs to be considerate, grateful and generous. We'll make it through this, but the management consultant's question is:

  • Need advice on current projects that are that are in motion?
  • Help with future projects (proposals or commercial development)?
  • What is the best way to make use of this time? If you're at the beach, or on a bench?
  • Are there any famous quotes you would like to be sharing (that express your current attitude, thoughts, or aspirations right now)?

The survey included 40+ experienced professionals who were asked to share their thoughts in blue hue. Thank you for your nice words. . .

You can be a human

Keep in touch to your colleagues through the internet. Contact them to check their health and well-being and well-being. Our clients/colleagues are our second Family members.

It's time to go back to basics and spend time with them. Your family is very significant. It's not all about money, work or the achievement. Spend time with your family and friends. Get intimate. Feel like a child again. Make contact with people that you haven't talked for years or even decades. and call them up again without reason. Talk to your kids and parents, your spouse or partner. Speak to the coworker or friend who you had a bad feeling and restore the relationship to how they were. Be human. Contact your parents and tell them that you are in love with them. Let your feelings out. Laugh, cry. Feel happy without reason it could have been much worse. Relax and breathe deeply. Take time to be present with the natural world surrounding you. Help those who are in need. In times like these that your humanity will bloom. It's all about people you and those you meet in your daily life.

Use this opportunity to ensure that you as well as your loved ones and family ones are secure.

Be grateful to your family members, friends as well as resources and gifts Help others who have less (e.g. resilience, resources) wherever and whenever you can. Also, devote your time to developing products and re-evaluating your process and organizing your business, marketing development and project delivery toolkit

Don't feel guilty when your day doesn't flow If you're not productive or you're feeling down. Learn to be able to accept your emotions. Contact people instead of. messaging them (friends or colleagues, family members or neighbors — particularly those living in their own homes). ALTRUISM — think about reaching out to the elderly within your neighborhood or in your building or donating money to individuals who pay by check in order to get paid.

Be a thought-leader and leverage that to remain at the forefront of your customers and other. Keep all this with the intention of getting your house in good order. You won't be able to help your clients or work on your own projects when your home is burning. Be compassionate, understanding grateful, humble and humble. Develop confidence. Take the tough choices with humility.

It can be difficult to attract attention to exceptional ideas unless they are initiated by the client or mission-critical – pushing too much can look unfocused or insensitive to business continuity concerns of the client. Maintaining relationships with existing clients through thoughtful contacts and meaningful conversations are always beneficial both professionally and personally.

 

Keep your eyes on the prize.

Highlight achievements and progress and share information about what's coming next , and promote positive thoughts about the future as well as our capacity as humans to adapt to changes with resiliency

 

Communicate

Make sure your project managers and customers at ease with more communication. Make sure you are in front of the demands of your clients – provide important contact details (even even if the client already has it) and set up regular calls to ensure communication is necessary, outline the upcoming milestones, and any risk to their achievement and, if needed, develop contingency plans and updated forecasts

Don't be afraid to communicate with your sponsor and anticipate changes above the norm – but make sure you remain focused on your ultimate goal. Your flexibility will pay off in the future.

It's a fantastic time to finish projects and finish the things were put off for a while.

Engage in discussions about the best way to proceed with this new technology (unprecedented which means there's room for lots of innovative ideas) and test some experiments.

Be updated. Most people aren't aware of how to verify or access sources that are of good quality. You can be the voice for quality. Inspire responsible actions. Not for instance, buying in panic. Inform people that long run equals long run, and that you should stay on focused on making sensible choices.

Built Projects. 1.) Check your contract on the impact from Force Majure events. 2.) Determine if there could be delays in the schedule of your project due to material or labor problems. 3.) Plan ahead that takes into account the short-term financial pressure and future economic impact.

Consulting Projects. 1.) Be open about your limits in understanding. 2.) Offer your clients an idea of how to think about the implications to the project or company in general (process rather than product). 3.) Make a possible route forward, with alternate options that are able to anticipate future developments. 4.) Be patient even if your project gets put in the back of the queue as you would like clients once we've finished this.

 

Stop and Assess

Reconsider how this project is in the priorities of your client right now Is it important? Irrelevant? Delay indefinitely? Contact us to your client to suggest what they should do to ensure that they don't need to. If you are aware of your client's business , offer ideas for strategies in these unstable as well as uncertain periods. If you don't have anysuggestions, provide an advisor and/or a assistance.

Take this opportunity to evaluate the your progress Re-calibrate or re-scope the scope as well as re-think and design an implementation plan the moment that things begin to get back to normal. It is a good idea to charge a fee for this effort!

Re-imagine future projects using the lens of current crisis

A great chance to re-evaluate projects that are at the edge of being stalled and let people keep their cool.

Find the time sensitive elements that are not affected by COVID-19 and figure out how to manage these elements.

Most likely, there will be some ROI evaluations will be conducted. Concerning project execution More attention should be paid to the capability to execute tasks remotely. We're trying to establish an online business process review ahead of the launch of an ERP project, which is the first time we've done it.

In over the next thirty days management will be focused on COVIT-19 issues. The business development process will slow. Review your options over the coming 30 days in order to start anew when it comes to business development.

Changes to the scope of roll-outs or scopes may be necessary. Done some best case/worst case scenario planning. Making plans for the worst scenario waiting and seeing strategy is not a good idea.

 

Keep doing good work

Continue to work. The same will happen as new opportunities will become necessary for both the consultant and the client.

Current projects require continued effort in order to progress. The time will come when this will be over and we do not want to be in a hurry. It will take time while personnel figure out their own lives and we have to be able to be able to accommodate their needs. But, if we put everything aside right now, we'll never be able to get our time.

Business as normal

Continue to progress.

The majority of businesses will be (or already) conducting prioritization assessment. What are the essential or desirable expense. We must be attentive to their feelings of uncertainty (even when we are feeling it too) and be ready to handle stop-work requests. I would suggest checking in regularly or avoiding to work too much unless you're prepared to delay invoicing for a time when that's the desire of your clients.

Continue to move forward the best way you can, it will happen too.

Overdeliver!

Maintain your course. Inform them that you take the security and wellbeing of your clients and employees seriously. You will continue to keep an eye on the situation surrounding the new coronavirus and make the necessary steps to keep your customers and employees safe while we continue to provide you with our services.

Customers are content to go on as usual at most for the moment.

Adopt “rules of engagement” for any work that is required on site. Communicate the plan to your client.

Take a look at the ways that different cultures have tackled similar problems. Being open to other culture will provide you with a variety of options that can benefit you. Connect with different cultures/people and listen to their opinions. Be humble and within the zone of listening.

Certain projects have to be delayed (for instance, when they involve travel or meetings in areas which have limitations) In such a case, it is best to negotiate an agreement in advance with the client regarding how to postpone the event.

The food industry is on fire. business. I'm mostly in silence admiring the tiny entrepreneurs who move with grace and wit.

Be cautious: let's observe how this situation develops (1-2 days) and then see whether we're required to change our plans on existing projects (perhaps shifting priorities, or the cancellation of some or even launching with new projects). The time is now to evaluate the strategic implications of COVID-19 for business.

Projects in progress will slow but they do not require an end of work status. Within our company we look at every issue that is in the way of completing as well as asking …”How could we proceed …”

 

Create a good home office

Make sure you have a quality headset to make conference calls. arrange your home office in a way that is clear of distractions and help your clients understand that they must continue to work with their current projects to ensure they can be more productive when the normal routine returns.

Learn to master remote computing quickly (zoom and teams VPN RDP VNC RMM, etc.).

We must be prepared for the future to work from today until the day's end all from a distance (as as much as is possible)

Huddles and stand-ups every day. I appreciate the opportunity we can ‘bump one another's back' when we're co-located. There is a lot of psychological and social value to the random interactions that occur. I'm trying to integrate as much of it in my own remote work routines.

 

Put your money into relationships

Continue investing in building these relationships. Don't be expecting any commitment from a business.

Be open with your ideas and thoughts

We are agents of change and it is crucial to be ready. Business development should be thoughtful and I'd provide a great deal of advice and tips for free as an investment into the future of business.

Keep in touch with potential customers and know if there's an opportunity to the prospects to aid them.

This could be an opportunity to assistance to your clients, and demonstrate your unrivaled worth to them in an incredibly difficult time, either by proceeding with an at-risk project (if you have time and are willing to accept it) or providing a portion of the work at no cost to show your an investment over the long term in the relationship.

Keep better documentation in place – record the risks, obstacles, and have contingency plans already in place. Do not wait for the ball to happen to start thinking about these documents.

I believe that embracing and being open about the risks will be helpful. It's a lie to say that things can expect to be “business as usual' in the next few weeks or months. This is not the case. Changes in the social and economic landscape are on the way. Being open and forthcoming increases trust and creates opportunities for collaboration.

Imagine 90 days+ to get it out

The plan is for a lengthy time delay … 3 months at the very least.

Think scenario planning

Customers are putting off rather than cancelling projects, however this could change when the situation becomes more dire. At the moment, we're anticipating delays in pipelines, possibly 8-12 weeks.

Be ready to be re-engaged!

We are currently focusing on the preparation of a pipelines for following the crisis. We are also adjusting or evaluating what services are relevant in the aftermath of the crisis.

will be years of testing the potential implications.

Split them into parts in three phases: design and piloting, roll-out, evaluation. Charge for the design phase and stage or gate prior to piloting.

On Hold – No one has time to talk about this issue at the moment. Possibility to conduct some research , but don't try to make any plans here now.

There is a scramble to shift their operations into virtual modelling financial and staffing models. Reducing certain projects and shifting gears in a massive way. Three of my clients were out with one of them discussing hope that the fog would lift by the summer.

Consider strategically how you can create value to clients, and what kind of projects that keep growing or retaining value over the next 12-18 years (the recommended duration of time to receive a COVID vaccination). If you have to hit the pause button on any new long-term projects for a couple of weeks (or longer) this is fine and it is probably the way your clients think about right now. It is best to commit for the long haul to a project you're confident is a sound strategy. Consulting Projects. You might need to develop your own project ideas yourself (think all those things you've always wanted to accomplish but didn't have the time to do) as well as to your customers.

 

Solve new problems

Determining the requirements and requirements of the future isn't easy but thinking about how we can improve our processes and search for fresh “out-of-the-box” solutions or areas are really fascinating.

In anticipation of a significant disruption to revenue with a major focus on the reduction of costs and contingency planning talking to clients about modeling exposure and stress testing P&L as well as preparing urgent cost-take-out strategies to save money. In terms of revenue we're planning work on “playing defensive” “… e.g. pricing strategy and targeted account management (best method to approach customers, customer segments and geos) and promoting e-commerce more than services in person.

Free Goodwill consulting…make this a period of being rather than. doing (perhaps we'll become CREATORS…finding the time on our own and in groups to think Be creative, once we've gotten through the initial three weeks of being locked in our homes depending on where you're. Maybe the universe is instructing our to take a breather, reconnect, and stop…

Make time for research and planning. Learn from the recent crisis and review your risk register

This outbreak will force businesses to adjust to the new or future conditions for example. overhaul the supply chain and industrial footprint and suppliers base, create new channels and markets to manage their risks as well as changing their business models… These companies will require the help of consultants. Consultants must make plans already in the future “after” the pandemic.

1. Each future project should have the use of a plans for business continuity (BCP) which incorporates the planning for pandemics (considering Covid19 and similar). Proposals must be able to clearly define the goal of the project. It is important to consider alternative methods (Always include the larger reason or the the context of “Why do we want to do this?” ?”). Make sure that people understand it, and will come up with more suitable alternatives. 1a. If you choose to use the alternative, BCP mandatory in any RFP/RFI. 2. Remote operations/working/collaboration weaved in as part of BAU rather than exception. 3. Anyone must be able to safely access any business function according to the job duties at any time or inspiration is required.

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