Throw Away the Plans

That headline does not mean we should stop making plans.  Those who don’t plan, don’t succeed.

It means that we must recognise that a post-pandemic world causes us to rethink some of the old certainties.  The Omicron variant of the virus is resulting in many more people catching the virus, though, luckily, generally with less severe results.

It does mean, however, that some workforces are decimated by those off with the virus, or self-quarantining because they have been in contact with someone with the virus. The number of people absent from work can change dramatically from day to day.

Firms have to recognise this and be prepared to adjust plans and schedules at short notice.  In some industries, where a number of job roles may be directly inter-connected, this makes life very difficult.

But, for now at least, this is ‘the new normal’.

We should be grateful that the effects of the Omicron virus are less severe but be prepared to deal with whatever it throws at us.

Those who have effective business continuity plans and can demonstrate resilience will, rightly, emerge from the tunnel with greater success.  If we don't build resilience into our systems and our staffing policies, we end up relying on the resilience of our individual staff; this is not fair on them and no recipe for longer-term success.