What Should We NOT be doing?

Source:  Flickr

During the current COVID-19 crisis, many organizations have had to be very clear about their priorities.  With tremendous pressure on the business, and limited resources, companies often have moved quite nimbly to focus time, attention, and money on only the most important initiatives and activities.  Leaders have been able to push less important or urgent issues aside.   The crisis has really made organizations focus on what is truly most critical to achieving the mission, maintaining viability, and serving customers effectively.   

When the crisis subsides, companies should not forget the lessons learned during these trying times.   It will be only natural as some semblance of normalcy returns for initiatives and activities which did not receive attention or resources to return to the agenda post-crisis.  However, leaders should proceed with caution in that regard.  Every organization should continue to ask at that moment:  What should we NOT be doing?  In other words, are some activities simply not value-adding or do they not deserve to return to the agenda?   Being disciplined about priority-setting post-crisis will be essential to recovery and success.  It's easy to lose that discipline when the urgency of a crisis subsides.  The best organizations will not lose that sense of focus around resource allocation moving forward.