Yippee!!! We're about to emerge from lockdown here in Melbourne. And Sydney is a couple of weeks ahead of us. Wow. What a year and a half. Big kudos to everyone for adapting, innovating and generally just grinding through the most disruptive work period we'll ever see in our lifetimes. The dawn is coming. Celebrate. Take a break. Breathe.
Then when we're ready to get back to work, find yourself in one of these 5 cohorts and consider how to refocus for a successful 're-entry' into the post-pandemic BD world.
Are you a BD team leader? What do you and your team now need? What haven't you been investing in while the lockdowns and disruptions prevailed? I'm already receiving requests for face-face training sessions commencing in the New Year. People seem eager to get back to in-person learning. How is your team feeling? Do they need to now adapt back/again to a new norm? Has the team dynamic changed during lockdown? And how are you feeling? Of course, you'll need a break first. But after that, what do you want to change? Where are you getting new ideas from? How can you implement them when they do come? Reflect on your priorities and your budgets and do something new. There'll never be a better time.
Are you a BD team member and feel ready for a change? This is a wonderful opportunity to change the way you conduct yourself on the job. Can you change the people you service, or the way you service them, post-pandemic, in order to create a better working environment and with better results? Do you need new tools to do so? Do you need to have a conversation with your supervisors to seek new authority to change the focus of your role? Can you modify the amount of time you spend with time-wasters in your cohort and invest that time into others who will value you more?
Are you a senior front-line professional? Create or refresh your BD plan. Think about the Top 10 clients and referrers you need to meet before year-end. Who are they? What's the most generous way you can thank them for their support during the last year or so? What's the most interesting way you can do that? Re-connect and be thankful. Assess the activities you will (and will NOT) reinsert into your calendar. Refresh your thinking about the relationships that count. Consider the people that are easy to deal with, those that you look forward to calling and meeting. Do more of those. Consider the events you'll be invited to as we emerge and the value or otherwise of attending. Do less of the unproductive ones.
Are you an ambitious front-line professional? If you've been busy during lockdown, as most people seem to have been, now is the time to consolidate your future practice. You may have been given more client contact in recent times as Partners and Principals have delegated more often due to overwhelming workloads. Where possible, maintain the contact. Build on the fledgling relationships. Reach out to those clients and proactively ask them if their businesses are being positively or negatively affected by the emergence from COVID. And offer support.
And finally, are you from a jurisdiction that hasn't been unduly impacted by the restrictions - thanks for being so understanding of the rest of us. We look forward to visiting when we're allowed and/or seeing you here in return.
We head towards the end of this year with greater hope of normalcy returning. But returning to normal should only be done if that's a good thing. If you want to improve your work-life balance or just your work balance, NOW is a great time to put it into action.
Paul McAllister helps professionals build skills and client bases to sustain their practices through coaching and training services, and really needs to get out of the third bedroom/office more often.