Last weekend, I cleared out and tidied my pantry – pretty exciting, right? I sorted things into categories, cleaned the shelves, got rid of out-of-date items – the half packet of stale oregano, the tin of Gravox in the back corner with a use-by of 2017. It was amazingly satisfying!
As I was working away, it struck me that this approach was also going to be really useful as the restrictions are lifted and businesses work out how we are going to operate in the ACV (after Covid) world.
We need to pull our old attitudes and approaches into the light of day and see if they are still “fit-for-purpose”. Are they the best option, the best approach, given all the changes we have experienced since the world changed dramatically?
We have to assess the new practices and operations that we have been using, during lockdown, to check whether they were “stop-gap” to get us through, or are they actually a better way of doing that task or project.
And we have to be clear about what stays and what goes, to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of the business in the next phase.
The temptation exists to try to go back to “the way things were”. The leaders who will excel in this transition time will be the ones who can make clear, conscious choices about the best way forward, and can bring their teams with them!
So, what would your business-process-pantry-audit reveal?
– out-of-date processes?
– stale ideas?
– complicated procedures?
…and what might be possible, if everything was “ship-shape”?
If you’d like a simple way to assess the overall state of your “pantry”, pop over to my website ((www.helenmac.com) and complete the “Business Optimisation Assessment”, which will help you identify areas that might need attention.
