As a leader who has navigated the last two years of global upheaval, you’ve probably given a lot of thought to how to future-proof your business for the long term. But future-proofing your business isn’t just about implementing the right technology or selling the right goods and services for a changing world.
It’s also about your people.
Leaders who want to position their companies for long-term growth can’t neglect future-proofing their teams. When they ignore the team aspect of future-proofing, they risk losing team cohesion.
It can be tough to figure out the best time to start future-proofing your team for whatever comes next, especially in the midst of flux. However, the time to start preparing for future change is before it happens. If your company is considering returning to the office and evaluating hybrid work policies, it may be the perfect time to start talking about protecting the company and teams from future change.
Here are a few things to consider as you seek to future-proof your team for long-term cohesion and growth:
1. What Does Your Team Want?
In what has been called “the Great Resignation,” employers across the US have seen employees leave in record numbers over the last several months. Many employees cite the possibility of returning to long commutes and office work when they’ve become accustomed to being productive from home. Others are leaving industries and positions that were uniquely challenging during COVID restrictions and looking for better schedules and work arrangements. If you already have great team members, what can you do to keep them, so they don’t become part of the Great Resignation? How can you work with them to meet needs and address challenges to their work arrangements?
2. Does Your Team Share The Company Vision?
When people align themselves with a company vision and company goals, they are more likely to tolerate rapid change that comes from the outside. There’s a sense of unification around shared values and goals and a willingness to work together to weather change. If your team is aligned around common goals and a shared vision, they’ll be more likely to stay when unexpected events threaten to disrupt business. If they aren’t aligned, ask why. Do they not understand it? Is the vision irrelevant or outdated? Do the leaders talk about the vision but act in ways that don’t support it?
3. How Does Your Leadership Team Handle Disruption and Change?
Leaders who have a “flux mindset” tend to be more flexible when the unexpected happens. They have clear goals and vision, but they hold those goals and vision loosely, allowing for potential change and keeping their thinking flexible enough to shift and adapt when change occurs. Leaders who have a rigid mindset struggle to adapt when the unexpected happens, and this rigidity may result in a loss of employees who feel that leadership isn’t adapting readily. Encourage both leaders and employees to develop a flux mindset and nimble thinking.
While the above are mindset questions, there are certainly some practical ways to prepare your company for whatever the future may hold—whether it’s economic uncertainty or a weather event that shuts the office for several days.
Invest In Scenario-Based Strategic Planning
This planning approach helps manage uncertainty by identifying and prioritizing trends, market movements, activities, or global events that might impact your business environment and developing a strategic action list outlining how to prepare if those conditions arise. Developing and planning for these scenarios will enable your business to pivot rapidly. Your confidence in knowing how to respond will reassure and inspire employees.
Create a Business Continuity Plan and Review it Quarterly (At Least)
It may seem mundane, but creating a plan for emergencies will not just help your team deal with the unexpected. It will also communicate that company leaders are thinking ahead—that they acknowledge that unforeseen events occur and prepare for them in advance. And as a practical matter, it will help everyone quickly adapt when there is an emergency, which can encourage a sense of confidence and ability.
Move Business Services and Apps to the Cloud
Wherever possible, start moving your apps and services to the cloud if they aren’t already there. This will make it easier for employees to work from home when necessary. It will also improve flexibility even when times are stable—giving everyone flexibility to work remotely when necessary helps encourage nimble thinking and adaptability.
Talk About Change from the Top Down, and Set a Good Example of Leading Through CHange
It may seem mundane, but creating a plan for emergencies will not just help your team deal with the unexpected. It will also communicate that company leaders are thinking ahead—that they acknowledge that unforeseen events occur and prepare for them in advance. And as a practical matter, it will help everyone quickly adapt when there is an emergency, which can encourage a sense of confidence and ability.
Change is rarely easy, and it can be especially challenging to lead a team of people through unexpected events. However, leaders with a nimble mindset and a flexible approach to work and business can cultivate cohesion and connection—and lead their teams through whatever the future brings.