I was watching the footage yesterday of the Oscars incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock – and my mind was exploding. I couldn’t believe what I saw. And after about 20 minutes of going online and looking at the reactions – my mind continued to explode! I went down the rabbit-hole big time.

And about 20 minutes after that – I started to imagine the world had gone mad. I mean, we’ve just come through the most intense working period of our lives, and we all know the Oscars incident will be a major talking point for a little while. And there's certainly a great deal to think about at this moment. This is not the post, or the forum, to make those points, however.

And I know this is going to sound like the fun police have invaded…..but who has actually sat down for a few hours with their team, their peers, their staff and ACTUALLY had a 2-3 hour debrief on what we learned from the last two incredible years?

How many readers of this article have ACTUALLY written down the changes we experienced and rated them for practicality in a post-pandemic world?

How many BD and marketing activities and habits are now creeping back into existence, DESPITE their proven uselessness in pre-pandemic times?

Who will take the opportunity to refresh, reorder, reinterpret,re-energize and replace the activities you will undertake in the immediate future?

For what it is worth, here are some lessons from my experience I hope you’ll find helpful:

We continue to crave human, face to face interaction. Relationships really, really matter. And this is much more enjoyable one to one, not in a crowded room. [Who wants to go back to a Teams/Zoom calls with 25 people on the call??]
People mostly got busier, not quieter. So now, how do you allocate time for those relationships when the business is rolling along? Answer - We need to remember the relationships that matter need nurturing and need time to flourish.
Having a poor backdrop online sort-of sucked. It showed we weren’t ready and weren’t respectful. Most people eventually got this right. But now that we’re mostly back in the office and Teams/Zoom calls will continue to happen, what background do you have set up there?
In person, we need to communicate clearly, demonstrate genuine curiosity and show empathy. We can be better at BD execution.
Having a BD plan to work with and fall back on is GOLD. Those that did not have a market or a client base to rely on were the ones experiencing work anxiety during the pandemic. It’s easy not to make that mistake again.
You can reset some relationships as you come out of the pandemic fog if you are an in-house professional. Not all of them, just some. Consider which ones need a review and think about how to set yourself up for success in future.

If you think I can help, let me know.

Paul McAllister is a BD coach and trainer specialising in professional services with a leaning towards thrillers and the occasional rom-com.