When will this COVID-19 situation end? There is no
convincing prospect of the COVID-19 situation ending. It became a situation no
one knows when it will end. In conclusion, we don't know whether this situation
will continue, end, or get worse. Uncertainty is growing. In the previous
article I talked about the specific implementation that a company has to do to
survive. I am sure that if we keep doing it every day, we'll see the way. The
current situation is uncertain. But we can't just sit and watch. We should make
the uncertain situation more predictable and more certain. Nothing is
impossible. At least the leader should think so. Now I focus on what to do
after COVID-19. Many thoughts flashed through my brain.
1. A leader must look
carefully at the company's cash flows. Departments dealing
with money should report financial information every day so that leaders can
make decisions or judgements. I have an idea that the Treasury should not be a department
that only settles its accounts at the end of the month, quarter or year. The
Treasury Department should ensure that leaders make the right decisions in a
timely manner. To do so, we need to develop tools or methods that can be
predicted with numbers. There are so many things to consider, such as cost
analysis, tax and finance. Under any circumstances, money should flow to
companies.
2. Every morning a
piece of paper should be on the leader's desk. It has to be prepared before
the leaders arrive at the office everymorning. If the company has a system in
place, the performance of the company will be automatically aggregated and can
be viewed on the screen or via e-mail. But I think it is better to see on paper.
The leaders need to look at performance data with just one page on the desk,
not one of the countless emails. The sheet shall contain daily data such as
sales performance, cumulative performance, progress rate, account receivable,
inventory, etc. compared to the previous day's plan. With this, the leaders can
decide every day's actions. It's an emergency now.
3. Performance evaluation
criteria for members should be redefined. Performance evaluation
of members of the company is always important. This is because
performance-based compensation is also the most fundamental to the management.
The company should increase the portion of the performance that is calculated
by numbers. If there is more telecommuting, it is right to set standards for
evaluation, rather than trying to control what the members do at home. If anybody
work from home and the evaluator lives in the same apartment buildings, isn't
there a possibility that the person will be evaluated better regardless of his
or her performance? At the company, it is most appropriate to be evaluated at
least for numerical performance.
4. The work manual
should be completely revised. The process of making a work manual is
difficult and boring. In many cases, ISO and other regulations are in place if the
company has a certain size. Separately, there will also be a manual that
records the process of the work unit. The manual should be revised to take into
account such cases as the COVID-19 situation. Each unit should look at existing
tasks and be revised by adding the number of cases. In fact, the manual may not
be highly utilized. But I concentrate on the process of making the manual.
Manuals are not only made by the department in charge. Everyone should be
allowed to participate. This is up to the leaders. Leaders should spend time working
on manuals with members every day. Doing so will surely lead to a flurry of
work improvement ideas and speed up members' adaptation to the new work
environment. This is what I actually did when I was in Mexico, accepting the
idea of the manager in charge. So we made a manual. Now, we need to strengthen
it to suit the COVID-19 situation.
5. The company's
security system should be strengthened. Working from home or
at a place other than an office can cause concerns about system security. For
small companies, the budget for security may be quite small. In some cases,
e-mail exposure may lead to wrong payments. In preparation for this situation,
security education for members should be strengthened as well as supplementing
the system for security. In particular, if you receive an e-mail about payment,
you should check the sender or deposit address. At the same time, more
attention should be paid to strengthening the system against hacking. As
expected, the leaders need full attention and support.
6. Effective use of
local agents who are well-versed in local affairs is required. Human mobility is
bound to be limited if conditions such as COVID-19 continue. Restricting
movement may mean that the level of trust is down. No matter how much you have
a meeting, you can't compare it to having a meal together. If the movement is
restricted, the level of trust will be too low to handle foreign affairs. In
addition, the development of new markets could be restricted. No matter how
advanced technology is and how much all work or pioneer is possible on the
Internet, it is not yet true. Especially, the market we are trying to pioneer
often does not have as much Internet environment as we do. So it can also be a
way to get and utilize local agents with reliable, competent and rich human
networks. If you don't know, you should ask.
7. The management of account
receivable should be strengthened. However, the company cannot push
customers too hard. First of all, if you don't have a customer management card,
let's make one first. We need to consider the current situation of the client
company. If you look closely at the current situation, you can see the
customer's ability for payments. You should not give the impression that you
only get a call when something happens. Whenever the customers need help, you
should give the impression that you are ready to run. Only then can we be the
top priority if our clients have room to pay the money.
The management of account receivable should not be
viewed only as simple numerical control. The company should look at the entire
client company as well. As time goes by, we need to take a deeper look at our
customers. And we have to manage the account receivable every day. In addition,
we need to constantly check that our numbers of account receivable match the
numbers that are being confirmed by the client companies.
It is also important to know what the customer's payment
process is like. Usually, the purchasing department does not take charge of the
payment. It is often managed by the Treasury Department. In that case, the
window of our sales department is the purchasing department of the customer, but
the decision to receive money is held by the customer's finance department.
Therefore, the sales department should also know the person in charge of the
customer's finance department.
8. The business world
must be reorganized. The process will be changed, and the
industrial structure will surely be reorganized. So a leader must read almost
every article on industrial change since COVID-19. We should think about it,
connect with our industry, and analyze and review it if necessary. At this
point, many related articles are almost the same. There is a lot of overlap. A
lot of overlap may mean there is a high probability of that happening. That's
what many experts think. You have to read, think, and execute quickly.
Companies must survive and continue to develop. The role
of a decision-maker in difficult situations is important. You can't survive
without a leader's initiative. A leader must constantly innovate, ponder, and
be busy. Especially in the current situation, leaders can't be idle.
