Turnaround Management during COVID-19 Pandemic
During this time of unprecedented crisis in the social and business fabric of our society we are responding and are available to help you and your stakeholders in a number of ways.
Firstly, prioritising the safety of our staff and partners and helping our clients do the same.
Secondly, in making available resources to the business community that might be able to provide some steer and direction as business owners and directors lead and manage in circumstances that very few were prepared for.
Thirdly, by continuing to offer you our expertise in crisis and cash management and turnaround leadership in creative ways and where essential this can still include hands on, on site support too.
Blog Posts
A Company Doctor's Diary from the business front line
Matthew, one of our directors and turnaround experts, has been recording his own experiences over the first few weeks of lockdown which demonstrates some of the specific issues we have been dealing with in this particular crisis which is leaving no one untouched.
In the days before the phrases turnaround manager or turnaround practitioner were coined to describe my colleagues and I, we would likely have been known as company doctors – still a very accurate term for what we do for businesses.
The IMF made it clear last week that the idea that the battle against Coronavirus is a choice between lives and livelihoods is a false dilemma. We must prioritise saving lives in order to protect livelihoods, but by the same token, if we do not do enough to protect livelihoods, then we will lose more lives – if not to COVID-19 in the short term, then to other ailments in the medium-longer term.
Others like Andrew Griffith MP and Lord Sumption have also been expressing similar concerns in our Sunday newspapers in the UK.
I and my colleagues are not in any way medically trained and can only contribute to saving lives like most others – by following the hygiene and social distancing guidelines rigorously. However, we do have vast experience of saving livelihoods by working with companies in distress to turn them around or help them rise again from the ashes, thereby preserving value and indeed jobs.
This requires a particular skillset including:
- being able to stay calm in a crisis;
- making quick, reasoned decisions based on limited information;
- remaining flexible and not wedded to too rigid a plan;
- relieving pressure on management and handling tough negotiations with a variety of stakeholders with their own, often conflicting priorities;
- all while motivating others who themselves are suffering huge stress and strain – much in evidence in recent weeks.
Here is a brief highlights package of my own experiences over the last two weeks which demonstrates some of the specific issues we have been dealing with in this particular crisis which is leaving no one untouched.
Along the way we have generated a lot of new material for use in planning, sourcing funds, dealing with staff and other stakeholders – if any of this could be helpful to you or others you know struggling to handle the current situation, please do get in touch –
+44 (0)203 858 0289
