From agriculture to construction, manufacturing, or sports, the crippling impact of COVID-19 on business remains a harrowing story to tell. In fact, recent data indicates the future of over 7.5 million small businesses are looking bleak if measures are not put in place to curtail the effects of the pandemic. So, what is the current fate of your business? Is it looking good, or do you want to keep playing the optimism card? Whatever your answer may be, you can either face the current challenge head-on or fold your hands and watch it collapse your business. If you are for the former, you should check these four ways to boost your business productivity during the pandemic. 

 

Get your information centralized

 

 

Whether you are an advertising company, commercial roofing company, or in the hospitality industry, this is the right time to reconsider having your business information scattered on several platforms. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the use of a central database or portals to hold business information the best option. There are countless business management apps and customer relations management tools that break down departmental silos by helping share information and monitor employee performances. Most of these apps are cloud-based, making it even better for employees who’ll be forced to work from home due to the pandemic. 

 

Have a routine 

 

Speaking of employees having to work from home, you must have an active working routine. Working from home can be challenging as you can quickly get distracted if you are not accustomed. Balancing your home and work routine can prove very tough, especially if you have kids and family to deal with. If you have many employees working from home, you should consider a regular check-in, ideally via video, to ensure everyone is keeping to schedule. Do insist on a standard business start time, stress on the need to have a separate or dedicated work area, and endeavor to send occasional routine reminders. You can also use any of the available tools used to track employee hours.

 

Get Back to Basics

Another thing which can really help you to become more productive in business at this time is to spend some time going back to the drawing board, so to speak. By going back to basics, you can re-learn how to run your business most effectively, and this could make all the difference in the world. You might even want to go and look at some online degrees for learning about business, and then apply what you have learned to your business. That kind of thing can really make all the difference in the world.

 

Adopt a video conferencing tool

 

The downside of working from home is that people turn to an unhealthy lifestyle as they get to hide behind text interactions to engage with work superiors and colleagues. Also, there are some hints of communication that are lost during audio-only or text exchange. Remote working can overturn the benefits of regular schedules like having to wake early, perform your morning rituals like meditation, or perhaps taking a shower. Video conferencing solves such problems by, for example, prompting the need to avoid appearing on camera like you just woke from sleep. For effective communication to occur, understanding a person’s body language or posture can play a useful role in decision making. 

 

Let this period be a reset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as the world wasn’t ready for this pandemic, would your business be prepared if a similar circumstance strikes again? Even though a crisis like this is bad but sometimes reveals the flaws and loopholes in our business operations. It presents an opportunity to call a time out, get down to the basics, and ask yourself those tough questions. Reconsider business tools and services you may have ignored and figure out how to stay ahead of the storm, should anything similar strike again. The pandemic has left many businesses in disarray, but this could be a goldmine for proactive companies. So, invest the time and effort now and see your boom in the next challenge.