I’m sure you’ve noticed the bulk of our coverage lately—especially on our website, where the news keeps changing faster than we can post updates—has been focused primarily on the coronavirus outbreak and how the AV industry is focusing on business continuity. [related]
That’s certainly been a shift for us as journalists, but obviously you’ve had to make some much more serious and personal adjustments to your daily routine as a result of the pandemic, including laying off employees or taking away other benefits that made your company a place people wanted to work.
Despite all of the change and uncertainty swirling around you and your industry, I’ve been blown away by how many of you have been willing to share your thoughts and expertise regarding steps you and your peers should be taking now to make sure the AV industry comes out of this situation in good shape.
The caliber of people who are coming to us with their ideas for best practices for you and your industry has represented a who’s who of the AV and IT industries. Their candor and detail when it comes to helping those who haven’t been through a rough patch has been downright impressive.
I’m especially proud they specifically reached out to CI because that tells me they believe we’re the best conduit to share their messages and advice with you—and that makes me proud. We know there’s a lot of business continuity advice out there these days and it’s tough to read it all, but we’re glad they shared it with us and we hope you’ve taken the time to read it and incorporate it into your business.
Following Business Continuity Guidance
Much like it’s impossible for any business leader to apply everything you learn at the annual NSCA Business & Leadership Conference from its world-class keynote speakers and even your peers, we know not everything you read in these pieces on facing the downturn will work in your particular situation.
Chances are, though, you’ll find a nugget or two that resonates with you—and that’s really all any of us can hope for at this point. We’re all looking for a beacon to guide us through an unprecedented disruption. The good news is the advice you’re getting is from those who’ve been there before.
You may even notice there’s some overlap in what some of our guest bloggers are saying. That’s a huge plus, in my opinion. It tells me that what they’re telling you is probably the best direction for you to follow. If you didn’t believe the first person, you might believe it by the third or fourth time you read it.
One caveat, though: all of this business continuity advice is predicated on what these industry stalwarts believe will happen going forward and how the industry will adjust to those changes.
The truth in this particular situation is no one truly knows how COVID-19 will change the world in which we live and the industry in which you work, so here’s hoping you won’t cry foul if what we believe is sage advice doesn’t work out for you.
Surely, what it looks like on the other side will be quite different than what it looked like even at the beginning of 2020 when most experts in the industry expected another big year for integrators, with the possible recession at least a year away.
No one counted on a pandemic changing literally everything.
