It’s 2020 - a year we will never forget.  The Coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented in its economic and social impacts.  We’ve seen nothing like it and hope to never see it again.  And now that we are in this and expecting to soon get on the other side of this, many questions surround what the new normal is going to look like.

A lot has changed over the past few weeks (I know – I sound like Captain Obvious) and the ripple effects of this crisis are yet to come. We are all entrepreneurs again.

What will your business look like in 3 or 6 months? How about in 2021? How will we prepare our teams and leaders appropriately? The questions go on and on, and while the unknown answers are unnerving, there are some constants that we can lean on for guidance as we work together to create our new norm.

In Richard Koch’s 1998 book, The 80/20 Principle, he makes a rather stark statement reflecting on the events of today. “The tipping point is ‘the point at which an ordinary and stable phenomenon – such as a low-level flu outbreak – can turn into a public-health crisis’, because of the number of people who are infected and can therefore infect others. Since the behavior of epidemics is non-linear and they don’t behave in the way we expect, ‘small changes – like bringing the number of new infections down – can have huge effects…  It all depends when and how the changes are made.”

“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” — William Arthur Ward. 

Maintaining adequate cash flow is a major factor when operating a healthy business in times of growth and prosperity. During tough times it takes on an amplified role. The fundamentals of collecting on receivables, reducing expenses, reducing inventory investment, and the like are still in play, but these and different strategies need to be examined in difficult economic times.

In March of 2020 business as we knew it changed, probably forever. The question is, what are we going to do about it? There are several options available; do nothing different, run and hide, or seize this as the opportunity that it is and become better. I recommend the latter. A key to becoming better is to determine how to differentiate your company from your competition.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis that came upon us just a few short months ago, now more than ever, manufacturers need to develop and implement an effective business continuity plan if they have not already done so.  While many companies who are ISO9001:2015 registered are required to identify risks and opportunities, as well to develop a response plan and integrate the response into their quality management system; this level of planning is wholly inadequate to support their needs under our current situation.  This is because ISO9001 asks a company to identify “what they will do IF something happens”, but now companies need to have a comprehensive plan to manage the business through the crisis now that it HAS happened.

This is an original article taken from the NIST Baldrige blog, written by Harry Hertz, Director Emeritus of the Baldrige Program. 

Over the past 1 1/2 years two iconic corporate leaders of the 20th and early 21st century passed away: Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines and Jack Welch of General Electric. Both built phenomenally successful companies during their tenures. Both had unique leadership styles, that differed in many ways. However, there were a number of striking similarities, that provide leadership lessons for all times and some specific pointers for surviving times of crisis. Not surprisingly, these are characteristics called out in the Baldrige Excellence Framework and displayed by leaders of Baldrige Award recipient organizations across all sectors. Let me share the characteristics I gleaned from numerous readings about these two leaders and summarized in these articles about Kelleher and Welch. I will relate them to the Baldrige framework and then to important lessons for times of challenge.

Co-authored by IMEC Technical Specialists John Remsey, Ken Wunderlich, and Hanoz Umrigar.

Risk, as viewed as an exposure to a negative event, is a very broad and commonly used terminology.  From the insurance industry, to medical services, to business operations, “Risk” is deeply ingrained in common vocabulary.  With the recent global events, the question being asked frequently is how to effectively evaluate and manage risk when it seems that nearly everything is at risk?

Co-authored by Ben Krupowicz, Executive Director of the IMEC Recognition Program and Holly Bender, IMEC Recognition Program Specialist.

It all happened in March.  The impact of the Coronavirus became real with social distancing and the stay-at-home order in Illinois.  We listen for updates, statistics and clarity on a daily, even hourly basis.   This is a period of great uncertainty.  We look for answers. How serious is this pandemic, and how long will it last?

Did you know that completing just the first "S" (Sort) of the 5S strategy may double your productivity? As you are thinking about navigating uncertain times and maintaining your productivity and quality levels, 5S can help!