9 management lessons for entrepreneurs during the pandemic

The world and the businesses are gearing up for some normalcy after the second wave of the pandemic. The second wave was seemingly more crippling than the first one and yet we managed to ride through it, albeit, quite scathed.

The last couple of years saw a lot of small businesses crop up. Skills that were being slotted as hobbies became side or main hustles as a way to fall back on in case of a similar crisis in the future.

Both veteran entrepreneurs or the new breed of entrepreneurs had to brace themselves for any unexpected or unforeseeable surprises as well.

Reflecting upon the years gone by, below are some crucial management lessons that the pandemic taught the Entrepreneurs:

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Experimenting with new technology:

With the changing Digital ecosystem, there is no absolute process of execution. Several old school beliefs are being increasingly challenged. Before the pandemic, work from home was a rare luxury but now video meetings have become a norm. The pandemic also forced several businesses to go digital and have enough time to adapt to the drastic change in the functioning of the business. Failing to adapt to the need of the hour would mean serious and long-lasting damage to the business. Several utility apps help the entrepreneurs ease into this digital shift, so be open to trying them out.

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Invest in and upskill your team:

Real assets to your business is your team. It is this manpower that helps you scale up your business to reach the vision you have for it. The strong bonds that you forge with and within your teams make surpassing the hurdles a lot less difficult. Ensure that there are enough growth and learning opportunities provided to your team members to make them reach their full potential.

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Be Empathetic

At time of crisis, the mental wellbeing of your employees is of crucial importance. With the unprecedented chaotic times we face, your team members are bound to feel anxious especially because of the sheer volume of changes they need to adjust to. Try to understand and resolve the issues they might be facing, no matter how trivial they may seem to you.

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Be Flexible:

Balancing work and personal life is is a challenge that is faced by the leaders and their teams, especially in the remote working scenario. Be willing to change the standard of the best practices of your organization that accommodate different perspectives and modify the processes to respond constructively to the new challenges that are likely to arise.

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Document the conversations:

Conversations have a tendency to be ambiguous more often than not. With several remote meetings being scheduled and decisions that are being made in them, sometimes, some crucial actionable points could get lost in translation and hence it's important to document the discussions and subsequently the course of action taken to ensure that future crisis can be avoided. It also helps the teams get more organized and be able to track the impact of the decisions made.

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Protect your data:

Remote working has led to a spike in the usage of Cloud-based services. While these services are convenient, they might not entirely be as secure as they need to be. Ensure that the right combinations of measures are taken to ensure an extra layer of protection is added for your crucial data. Consult a cybersecurity consultant if needed as well. Store the data at various places in parts and ensure that there is a backup for it in case the data needs to be retrieved.

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Identify the right allies:

As entrepreneurs, most of the decisions are taken in a firefighting mode. This downtime enables the entrepreneurs to look at possible mergers and collaborations that will contribute to their business and optimise the business advantage.

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Manage your finances:

Financial management has become an imperative function that most organizations have needed to adopt. This ensures that the business tides through the downtime and flourishes during the growth phase. Ensure that the overheads are kept to the minimum and the resulting surplus is channelled into the right areas.

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Leverage on Automation:

Automating your processes doesn't mean you are devaluing the human element in your business. It is meant to empower the employees to increase their productivity. A lot of data management and processing can be automated in order to enable an accurate interpretation of the data.

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