Yes, it’s a cliché, but it’s true. We need look no further than the coronavirus pandemic that is gripping the entire planet for examples of opportunities to reform, improve, or view the world through a new lens. This may take shape in the form of a renewed sense of gratitude and appreciation for simple things, or forging closer bonds to the people that are most important to us. On a global scale, our collective pause has reduced the damage that industrial and transportation emissions and other human activity has caused to the global environment.
And the expansion and acceleration of the move to more remote work, and online health services, learning, and teaching may continue beyond the pandemic, bringing more opportunities to individuals. For businesses and other organizations faced with never-before-seen challenges, the pandemic has required quick pivots to new solutions. While many have suffered crippling losses, new markets, customers, products, and services have also emerged. One example I’ve experienced in my work as an instructor has been a shift to online vs. in-person classes. With classes newly available on Zoom, we’re tapping into a new market of adult learners.
What new opportunities might your business or organization have, that can expand y.our capabilities now, and continue after the pandemic restrictions are no longer in effect?
Tips for Communicating in a Pandemic
Below is a link to a great article in Forbes about how your business/non-profit, even your personal brand, should communicate during a pandemic. This is new territory for most people and this article provides a good road map.
Book Shelf
I recently completed a project editing a book of letters sent home by a military service member to his fiancee` during World War II. As a history buff I found it fascinating, and it reminded me that history, particularly at the family level, is often preserved in everyday things like letters, holiday and birthday cards, and post cards, that are becoming less common in the digital age. Will our emails and social media posts be read by the generations that come after us? Will the hundreds, if not thousands of photos on our smart phones be seen by them either? Having used numerous digital storage formats and devices in over thirty years of computing, I’m skeptical, which is one of the reasons I save some paper artifacts and print out some of the important digital ones.