3 Things You Can Do To Farewell 2020 and Accelerate into 2021
2020 has brought about changes to the workplaces that many of us thought would take years to achieve. For some business it’s a year they would rather forget, for others, a year that was a catalyst for completely evolving their business.
Wherever you sit on the spectrum, no doubt you are already looking towards the opportunities that 2021 holds. If you’re looking to kick start the new year, full of gusto, take a look at three things you can do to Farewell 2020 and start 2021 with a bang.
Reflect on the year that was (then give it thanks and wave goodbye)
This ritual is an important one to help you draw a line in the sand and farewell the year that was (and not let the pandemic consume your headspace in 2021).
Our memories tend to be quite short after trauma (and for some of you, 2020 might be perfectly described as exactly that). We often just want to forget about it and move on.
One of the dangers in business is not taking the time to stop and intentionally reflect on what lessons this year taught you about doing business, or what strengths it uncovered about your team.
With a year full of “disruption” one of the best things you can do is reflect on how you adapted, decide what old ways of operating you are going to leave behind, and how you want to continue to evolve into the future.
Take stock of your vision, mission and values
If there ever was a time to test your vision, mission and values – it’s during a global crisis. Businesses usually take the time in the Annual Strategy Day to refresh the team on what these mean to the business, but this year why not dig a little deeper, and ask some potentially uncomfortable questions.
When we had to make tough decisions, did we use our values to guide this?
Were the team enabled and empowered to live by them when the way we operate changed?
If we made changes to our operating model (the “what” you do), did our mission (the “why” you do what you do) still ring true?
If you can confidently answer yes, give yourself a big pat on the back. If your results weren’t so positive – that’s ok too. Maybe it’s time to evolve these to a new standard.
Activate your people plan for 2021
There’s never been a more important time to consider your people plan and employee experience than right now. If, like many businesses, your operating model has changed throughout 2020, then so too will your people strategy. Culture develops whether we choose it to or not. But the experience of your team have with your business is too important to be left to its own device, so take a stand create it consciously.
What does this mean in practice? Well, look at your current “HR” practices and decide what needs to evolve. This could be as simple as redesigning your onboarding process (maybe looks a little different now you are incorporating flexible work?). Maybe, it goes a little deeper, and it’s become abundantly clear that the skill requirements of your leaders has changed significantly (particularly if they are no longer in the same physical space as their team as much as they’ve been in the past).
Now if 2020 has taught us anything, is to focus on progress over perfection, so there’s no need to go overboard. Even having one area of focus per quarter is a great start.
