How have you trained your staff to manage customers not following your rules and guidelines, are you clear on distance between people and use of masks? Photo / Brett Phibbs
What will you do if your business becomes a location of interest? Have you made a plan if a team member gets Covid?
How many conversations have you had in the past week where the topic of conversation became Covid-related within five minutes? The community outbreak in Palmerston North has
heightened the focus on Covid. The latest mask rules and other regulatory requirements have demanded business owners' attention. Are you allowing this to be an all-consuming energy drain or have you put in place the necessary steps and staying forward focused?
In unknown situations we need to do what we can, make our peace with that and ensure we have a feedback loop to stay current and then stay focused on navigating the way through the storm. Feeding the panic monster with your attention drains energy from you and your team and infects customers and suppliers.
Assess the situation, make decisions and put in a short daily review to ensure you remain on track. Strategies to consider should cover how you can keep operating if a team member is infected or a close contact and has to isolate. Can you create team bubbles who alternate days in the office or have some key team members remain remote?
Think about your supply chain - should you lift your stock levels (assuming you have the cashflow to do this of course!), liaise with suppliers, find alternative suppliers? Customer communication is essential - what signage do you have, how have you trained your staff to manage customers not following your rules and guidelines, are you clear on who can be on-site, distance between people, use of masks, etc?
