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I’m glad I’m not running an advisory firm. The challenges are immense. It was a difficult business before the pandemic. Now it’s much more so.
Some of my clients are concerned and are asking for advice.
Focus on what you can control
I’m giving you the same advice you give your clients: Focus on what you can control. You don’t control the spread of COVID-19 or the timeline for when an effective treatment or vaccine will be available.
You can control your expenses.
Make this temporary change permanent
What I’ve learned from the shutdown is that the world doesn’t come to an end when we can’t travel. We’re remarkably adaptable. We are also aided immeasurably by technology.
Pre-pandemic, many clients resisted communicating by videoconference because they were intimidated by the technology. Today, it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t figured out Zoom. It’s ubiquitous, along with Skype, FaceTime and many other options. Your clients probably are using a videoconference service to stay in touch with family and friends. Using it to communicate with you is a logical extension.
Make this temporary change permanent.
Slash your travel and entertainment budget and substitute videoconferences for those clients who are amenable.
How will you know?
Ask them.
You are likely to find any reluctance they previously had no longer exists.
The savings could be considerable. You may also find your meetings are more focused. Because you aren’t traveling, you’ll be more productive.
Slash rental costs
I found this study fascinating. It was conducted by Stanford Professor Nicholas Bloom over a two-year period. He looked at productivity for 500 employees of a travel agency located in Shanghai (where rental costs are very high). Bloom divided the employees into two groups. One worked at the company’s headquarters and the other worked from home.
Bloom found those who stayed home were more productive, had significantly less attrition, took shorter breaks, had fewer sick days, and took less time off. On the downside, half of the work-at-home employees felt isolated and wanted to return to the office environment.
Your employees have been working at home involuntarily. How has it worked for them and you?
My clients tell me the experience has been generally positive and they’re surprised at how well it’s working.
Most introverts would be thrilled to continue to work at home. Extroverts may require some time in the office.
Technology will bridge the isolation gap. Slack and videoconferencing make communication instantaneous. Here’s another suggestion, but it’s currently available only for MacOS, although a Windows and Linux version is in the works: Take a look at Remotion.
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It has some unique features and is free. Team members appear on a small round circle. Users mark themselves as away, around or open. They can indicate who they’re talking to and, if they are open, you just click on their face to start an instant conversation.
The combination of Slack and Remotion could be a powerful way to simulate the office environment. When you add a virtual phone system (which you probably already have), the integration of the home and office experience will be complete.
The benefit to you is obvious: a sharply reduced rent cost. You might be able to limit your office space to a few cubicles shared by whoever is in the office that day and a meeting room or two. Everything else could be done by employees working at home.
The savings from reimagining your advisory firm go directly to your bottom line. These possibilities may be a good place to start.
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