You may have to forget about continuous improvement for the moment and deploy all resource to problem-solving. That is if you still have a business to run.

The significance of the impact of COVID-19 on the world economy has gone through the roof. While world leaders debate on the best approach to tackle this s**t, people like You and I must focus on the immediate consequences to everyday business.

Today your venture falls into one of the three categories:

Not sure how to break it down to you but sooner rather than later, you will need to make changes to the way your business operates. 

So far, you were able to manage outputs by controlling all inputs. Over the last few weeks, all of this went upside down. To stay in the game, you must focus on the NEW:

1. People’s priorities

2. Demand for products and services

3. Supply chain operations (incl. capability, lead times, prices etc.)

In the new reality, you will choose how to allocate the resource to maximise the profit. Simplistically you have one of three options to choose from:

The most likely scenarios will look like that:

Running full steam – > Mainly Process improvement

Reduced operations – > Balance between problem-solving and process improvement

Complete lockdown – > Mainly problem solving

Finding the right balance between problem-solving and continuous improvement will take business leaders and executives to the test. 

If you have a success story to share with us drop a line in the comments below. We would all benefit from guidance, positivity and encouragement from you. 

Stay safe!