Covid-19 has changed our lives in many ways. In the beginning all attention obviously went to the effects this pandemic had on our physical well-being. Increasingly, the debate focuses on how we move on, as individuals but also business-wise.
Support organisations are typically known to interact intensively with large numbers of companies as well as with government institutions and knowledge suppliers. It is therefore no surprise that for many stakeholders the expectations are high if it comes to the role these support organisations can play in preparing companies for the post-covid era. So the question is: are you, as a support organisation, ready for perhaps the biggest challenge you have faced until now?
Answering that question comes down to thinking through quite a number of issues that rose from the pandemic. Examples are:
- Do you have a good insight into the challenges of your companies in the short and the longer run? What are their key bottlenecks: Finance? People? Facilities? Something else? Be aware that Covid might have changed their priorities. Future needs of your companies may not be those of the past and thus their expectations towards your role may (and probably will) have changed.
- Did you develop scenarios on how the various value chains may develop over time and what this implies for the competitiveness of the companies? Consider possible crises that we may encounter in the -perhaps not so far- future, such as geopolitical imbalance or climate response. What are the risks and what are the opportunities? Make an overview, starting with “low cost-high impact” interventions.
- Is it clear, in your role as a matchmaker, what kind of relationships are missing and what kind of partners therefore should be linked to your ecosystem? Crisis situations often magnify problems that stay under the surface on ‘normal’ days. You may therefore use this Covid-crisis as an opportunity to strengthen your role and re-align your strategy.
- How about your own business model? Knowing that there is an economic crisis ahead, what will happen to your funding? Will governments have budget available for you and are companies willing to extend their membership?
Probably the core question is what value you, as a support organisation, can add to recover the economy from its biggest challenge in modern times.
