The last 3 months has been a time like nothing we have ever experienced. This pandemic has touched every aspect of our lives – our health, our work, our finances, and our fundamental freedom to live life the way we have become accustomed to. While we cannot erase or forget the past 3 months, it is time now to move out of crisis mode …
31 December 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) received a report of a novel coronavirus. By 30 January 2020, WHO declared the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. 25th January, the first case was reported in Australia with our first death on 1 March. By 11 March a pandemic was declared. 21 March, saw social distancing rules imposed and the government start to close down ‘non-essential’ services. On 31 March 2020, the Australian Government announced its largest economic support package in response to the crisis, with the JobKeeper wage subsidy program. As of 30 May, 7185 cases and 103 deaths have been reported in Australia.
The last three months has been a time like nothing we have ever experienced. This pandemic has touched every aspect of our lives – our health, our work, our finances, and our fundamental freedom to live life the way we have become accustomed to.
For business owners, it became evident quite quickly that the business landscape was about to undergo major transformation. In early March, there was still a widespread sense of ‘let’s wait and see’ and ‘surely it won’t impact us’ (particular in regional QLD), but within the space of two short weeks we saw pubs and clubs close down, offices shut their doors as they sent their workforce to work from home, and ‘non-essential’ businesses lose 100% of their turnover overnight.
No-one knew what to expect next, legislation and health information was being released and changing daily if not hourly, and the business world went into crisis mode as we tried to find the right way to respond and survive in an environment we were not prepared for.
From a business perspective, the real impact started just 2 short months ago.
In those two months we’ve seen some businesses pivot to operate and deliver online, some reinvent their service offering to match the covid-19 landscape, many give their time, knowledge and product generously to support others, and sadly, some permanently close.
While we cannot erase or forget the past 3 months, it is time now to move out of crisis mode.
We have gained some amazing insights, had our long-held beliefs about how work gets done challenged, and proven that our people can be amazingly agile and innovative when there is simply no other choice. And as the CEO of Cisco says, “Now that we recognise what’s possible, that paradigm shift is going to stay with us.”
We need to harness those learnings and dissect the positives to set ourselves up for a positive future. Let’s not forget what the beginning of 2020 has taught up, but more importantly let’s not get stuck in crisis mode!