Adapt To Survive

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin

With all the pressures that arise from a difficult economic climate, many organisations are now facing severe cutbacks. But how can you increase your chances of surviving during a cutback – at either the team or the individual level?

If the prevailing business climate and needs are changing, you will need to adapt, too. We may be creatures of habit but – as Darwin suggested – those who are nimble and responsive will usually come out on top.

If your Insight team is facing cutbacks, here is a three-point plan for survival:

• Don’t bury your head in the sand. Acknowledge that things are difficult. If you’re a team leader, it’s important to listen to any of your colleagues who are facing difficulties and challenges. If you’ve already lost a number of people, it’s also important to take a little time to lick your wounds and readjust.
  

• Review your options. The best place to start is by reviewing the business priorities for both the immediate future and for the longer term. What processes or resources need to be in place so that you are ready for when the business upturn comes? Will you be ready to hit the ground running? What will form the basis of your competitive advantage? Once you’ve decided on what you need to do, realign your priorities and resources in line with your business needs and plans.
  

• Be adaptable, flexible and innovative. Start making plans for moving forward. Find ways of streamlining; using new technology; and making better use of existing insights so that you can still maximise the return from your reduced resources. Involve the team in building plans, drawing on their creativity. Their involvement will probably lead to a better solution. At the very least, it will help them to buy in to the next phase of your evolution.