Reopening and Renegotiating by Brian Buck
What a difference a month makes! The beginning of May gave us the great debate on which states were going to open up and which states would remain closed. Almost every state had plans in place, vowing to put the safety of their citizens first. Some promised immediate reopening, while others claimed that they wouldn’t consider it until July. Then, almost overnight, we found ourselves . . . here , as all 50 states are either reopening entirely or at least regionally. While emotions are mixed — some are rejoicing while others are nervous — there’s no denying the pressure it’s putting on all businesses to figure out their next step. Do you have it all figured out? Our business was fortunate enough to have been working on a virtual solution to help our clients with their corporate sustainability initiatives around reducing carbon footprint and waste. As it turns out, our sustainability solution also works well in the midst of a pandemic. Even so, we had to make difficult decisions, not to mention adjustments to a chaotic marketplace, while doing what we could to keep our team safe. However, every business was faced with new challenges, from doing more with less to completely shutting down. But as things reopen, a whole new wave of uncertainty is upon us: How do we conduct business in this new normal . Every day presents a new set of challenges, but some trends are starting to emerge. If we’re mindful of those trends, we’ll be able to deal with this new uncertainty in a far more graceful way than, perhaps, we did when COVID-19 came crashing down on us. Tomorrow Will Be Different From Today This is strange to say, considering that many of us have fallen into the same routines every day, and each day tends to blend into the next. Going beyond our personal shelter-in-place monotony, there’s no way any of us could’ve predicted where this was all headed. In January, it was a small story happening to someone else. In February, we started to take notice as airlines began canceling flights to COVID-19-impacted countries. And by March, governors were issuing statewide stay-at-
home orders with almost everyone beginning to write off 2020. But here we are, with a heartbeat, talking about potentially salvaging part of this year. So, tomorrow will be different from today. Therefore, build near-term plans with long-term change in mind. Before solidifying new agreements, think about what happens to the agreement in the event of a change. Consider how it will help you and how it will hurt you — then build in triggering events to protect yourself in the event that those changes occur. If you’re unclear about future events, then think about doing shorter-term agreements until things start to stabilize. There Are 7.8 Billion Ways to Look at This Mine is but one opinion about this. There are 7.8 billion other people on this planet who might have a different point of view. You’re going to
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