Surviving These Times

In these challenging economic times, it is sometimes hard to focus on the future rather than the present. Many are challenged financially and organizationally as external forces put pressure on you. The key thing in dealing with these forces is to realize that some are beyond your control and you are going to have to deal with those that are within your grasp. This often means looking internally to develop new strategies to survive these challenging times.

So what may this look like? Here are some ideas for you to consider:

  • Are your company or organization’s goals and objectives right for these times? When was the last time your strategic or business plan was reviewed? Was it developed when things were less challenging and do you need to take a good look at new goals and objectives?
  • Talk to your staff and involve them all the way. They are your greatest assets and often times the ideas that they may have will help you develop new long term goals and objectives.
  • Sometimes it is the simplest ideas that work. I heard a speaker once talk about a dog food company that was looking to re-inspire their employees. The owner empowered the employees to form a team and develop a new mission statement for the company. The result was simple and effective: “ Dogs are man’s best friend and we feed the dogs”. Simple, powerful and effective.
  • Don’t exclude any idea. People sometimes tend to ignore the obvious and leave the pearls of wisdom behind. How often have we heard the term “out of the mouths of babes”? It could be that junior employee who has the best ideas.
  • Keep refreshing your business or organization. It may be that now is the time to re-tool and create new tools for you and your customers.

Bottom line is it is never too late to look to the future. Keep positive and involve everyone in your process. Keep that glass half full.