It’s easy to write off 2020 and use the pandemic as a convenient excuse for missing objectives, targets, goals, forecasts, and a plethora of other things. We were encouraged to step out of our comfort zones and step into the uncharted waters of Business As UnUsual #BAUU. It’s not surprising; I feel I’ve met and spoken to more people who haven’t achieved rather than overachieved in 2020. So, is 2020 really a complete bust?
What we often forget and overlook is reflecting on our past experiences to actually "process" what we did, how we did it, and what we coulda/ shoulda done differently. Reflection is so 2020 (pun intended!).
At TRG, one of our core values is Kaizen, which means life-long learning and continuous improvement. For the past 6 months, Kaizen is what I actively advocate and drive with my teams the most as I endeavour to remember and reinvigorate our culture. We strive to foster an environment that empowers us to learn from what we do. We call it Reflection. We even built an online training for it since it’s critical to Kaizen.
As an example, we encourage our interns to maintain a journal of what they are doing (that in itself helps them when they update their CV’s) and make a special note of any issues and road bumps they experienced. Once the task is completed, they can reflect on the journey and imagine if they relived it all over again, what would need to change?
I mentor interns and share with them that it's hard for us (supposedly experienced employees) to explain things with enough clarity. Thus, it's not surprising if we inadvertently create a few road bumps, which are yet another good reason to reflect as it will help make us better (Kaizen again!).
This helps uncover solutions to overcome the road bumps, which we then document and typically build into online training such that the next person doing the same task will have a smooth journey. Unless of course, they encounter other road bumps. In which case through reflection/ Kaizen, we smooth them out too.
In fact, the Reflection course was created as a result of this very process. Despite us all learning about reflection in school, in reality, most people have forgotten the practice.
As I look back on my own 2020 journey now, the questions I ask myself daily are "What can I do differently?" and "What were the other options?" The bi-weekly mentoring/ coaching and reflection sessions with both my staff and our diverse team of interns have shown positive results, and I can now feel the subtle shift in culture and collaboration that we are inculcating. These sessions provide valuable opportunities for individuals and teams to get immediate feedback from me, and more importantly, they are also a "reality check" for me.
We are living in a strange world. The pandemic has prevented us from travelling, and at the same time, allowed us to explore new frontiers we would otherwise not be able to experience.
As Sir Winston Churchill once said, and I also quoted in past letters, "Never let a good crisis go to waste", I have taken time to reflect, initiate new transformative projects, and reflect again to check in with reality. I have witnessed first-hand how cloud services transform our business as well as our clients despite the current calamity. I have also witnessed the expansion of my teams into a more virtual, diverse, and connected collective.
A great example from one of our partners is Inforum; it used to be the kind of larger-than-life in-person corporate event. This is where Infor, one of the most prestigious business solution vendors in the world, showcases their customer success stories, product announcements, upcoming innovations, and keynotes from thought leaders and industry experts from around the world.
Inforum 2019 saw over 5,000 attendees gather in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event also included a private customer concert featuring six-time Grammy award winner Christina Aguilera.
The obvious downside of such lavish events is a limited audience. I know 5,000 sounds a lot, yet it’s a drop in the ocean of Infor’s 90,000 corporate customers and over 50 million cloud users, not everyone can or wants to travel to join Inforum. That is until the pandemic hits and turns the world upside down. I could only imagine the intense atmosphere the team at Infor had during the reflection session before coming up with feasible actions for this year’s event.
Inforum 2020 was supposed to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from the 14-16th September. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event is going virtual, meaning everyone now can join Inforum for free, from the safety and comfort of their homes and offices.
I have to applaud Infor for showcasing the perfect example of a VUCA mindset and an agile disaster recovery plan while staying true to its core purpose - providing a resourceful platform for businesses to discover and connect with industry experts, get updated on relevant skills, and get inspired through transformative stories. This year's event will further reinforce the importance of being data-driven, and the endless possibilities businesses will be able to obtain with a cloud-first strategy.
And we all know that those who can fully exploit data hold the key to success as they have insights to satisfying customers, streamlining operations, and validating strategy. Yet, mining data and creating a healthy data culture are more like long-term goals, which is exactly the reason why companies invest handsomely in analytical talents as well as technologies.
Data is more readily available now than ever. In the context of this business-as-unusual post-pandemic world, the ability to navigate through uncertainty will depend on how well we, the leaders, and our teams can leverage technology to harness the power of data.
Inforum 2020 offers a lineup of 200+ breakout sessions that cover in-depth a wide array of topics, news, trends, product highlights, and case studies. No matter what's the size of your business, the industry that you are in, or the challenges that you are facing, you will all benefit from Inforum 2020.
I will undoubtedly participate in session 470667 - Adapt Faster with Flexible Business Planning Using Infor d/EPM, presented by Zsolt Pinter, Senior Director of Finance Systems Strategy and Business Analytics, Kempinski Hotels SA, to get a better understanding at how one of Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group fought through it all and prepared for the ambiguous future ahead.
Discover, connect, and get inspired at the ultimate Infor customer event. Join us for two days of virtual customer success stories, educational sessions, product announcements, sneak peeks at upcoming Infor innovations, and some e-networking. We hope to see you “virtually” there!
