The way forward in this standstill economy should ideally be to reflect on the past, realign the present, and take the steps required to a rewarding future. It’s to plan ahead and determine the contingencies well in time to get ahead of the next stage of the crisis.
While 97.67% of respondents have indicated having a contingency plan in place, only 90% of them seem to have put out guidelines on how to handle the lockdown and its repercussions. But is having a contingency crisis team and plan enough? Maybe not. The next step should be to organize a ‘plan-ahead’ team – a structured group of individuals tasked with specific issues across time horizons.
According to a report by McKinsey, “your plan-ahead team should be charged with collecting forward-looking intelligence, developing scenarios, and identifying the options and actions needed to act tactically and strategically. Unlike a typical strategy team, it will have to plan across all time horizons (two, four, and seven days; two and four weeks; one and two quarters; one and two years; and the next normal) to enable you to stay on top of escalating issues and the decisions that you need to make in this time of high uncertainty.”1
This team should be modular, with each cell having the ability to replicate and scale in line with the magnitude of the crisis, changing and adapting to each new hurdle coming its way. They should collate all the trigger points, worst-case scenarios and align a plan of action to tackle each one so that when/if the issue arises, the CEO and the board are well-equipped to take the right course. Speed is of the essence here, and the only way to get ahead of the crashing economy.
While 97.67% of respondents have indicated having a contingency plan in place, only 90% of them seem to have put out guidelines on how to handle the lockdown and its repercussions. But is having a contingency crisis team and plan enough? Maybe not. The next step should be to organize a ‘plan-ahead’ team – a structured group of individuals tasked with specific issues across time horizons.
According to a report by McKinsey, “your plan-ahead team should be charged with collecting forward-looking intelligence, developing scenarios, and identifying the options and actions needed to act tactically and strategically. Unlike a typical strategy team, it will have to plan across all time horizons (two, four, and seven days; two and four weeks; one and two quarters; one and two years; and the next normal) to enable you to stay on top of escalating issues and the decisions that you need to make in this time of high uncertainty.”1
This team should be modular, with each cell having the ability to replicate and scale in line with the magnitude of the crisis, changing and adapting to each new hurdle coming its way. They should collate all the trigger points, worst-case scenarios and align a plan of action to tackle each one so that when/if the issue arises, the CEO and the board are well-equipped to take the right course. Speed is of the essence here, and the only way to get ahead of the crashing economy.
