How Covid-19 has changed the way we are approaching business

It is no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously challenged our sense of security, determination and decision making in the way we run our businesses. With rules and reason changing from day to day, now more than ever we find ourselves re-evaluating how we run our businesses. 

Successful businesses thrive off good people, great relationships and greater leaders. These foundations that were once put in to place so naturally have now been challenged by the boundaries of Covid-19 and need to be revived and adapted to ensure future business success in a world governed by a pandemic.  

Locality is no longer essential  

For many years’ location has played a big part in recruitment, with many employees opting to apply for jobs close to home or within their nearest city. However, we are now very much a part of a society that is embracing hybrid or remote working – it is no longer essential to travel to a stationary office each day.  

As business owners it is essential that we look to the future and realise the opportunities that have been presented to us here. As locality is no longer essential, we have automatically been given a wider catchment area on recruitment. Successful businesses thrive off good people and we no longer have boundaries in this search.  

Building relationships in an online world 

Over the last eight months, whether we have liked it or not, we have become accustomed to video platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, but are video calls as effective as face to face meetings? The Covid-19 pandemic has made us question whether meeting in-person is essential to maintaining and building meaningful relationships with both existing and new team members. 

It’s extremely difficult to connect on a human level with people who exist only on your computer screen or mobile device. Therefore, it’s so important that we work extra hard to ensure we’re interacting with our business associates in ways that allow us to build meaningful and genuine relationships. 

Successful businesses thrive off great relationships and likeability, credibility and trust are key foundations strong business relationships are built upon. Therefore, we need to consider these three qualities when building professional relationships online.  

Establishing remote leadership  

The new socially distanced and remote business model is no longer allowing for that all important ‘hands-on’, ‘walking the room’ leadership within the workplace, therefore establishing leadership within business has been immensely challenged.  

Where once senior teams were on the ground, guiding teams within a creative office environment, leadership has now become isolated and restricted to phone and video calls. In our current climate it is of high importance for leaders to be established so it’s clear who’s guiding the business.  

We must find strategic ways to establish remote leadership so businesses begin to compete again, teams feel supported and creativity continues to flow. Successful businesses thrive off greater leaders who can use the expertise and support of their teams to unlock greater business performance.  

The Alchemists Forum brings business owners and business leaders together to make great decisions, inspire greater thinking and achieve greater performance.