22 Jun 2021 #WhatWorks Resilience Series
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals and businesses alike, have faced significant challenges. Collectively, we have had to learn new skills, embrace sweeping change, and adapt to unfamiliar working environments – despite being distanced from our friends and families. In the midst of overwhelming uncertainty, it takes great courage, strength, and resilience to rise above and keep pushing forward, while taking care of ourselves and each other.
For these reasons, BC Tech created the #WhatWorks Resilience Series to explore how resilience is harnessed to build stronger teams, drive business results, and support economic recovery in BC. The four sessions were held virtually over the Spring, delivering powerful messages and strategies to help BC businesses not only survive, but thrive during these challenging times.
Personal Resilience: Navigating Challenging Times
Resilience starts with the individual – You! The first installment of the #WhatWorks Resilience Series was focused on Personal Resilience. High Impact Lab’s Erin Stills put forward the question “What does it take to manage your personal wellbeing?” She went on to explain that we must pay attention to the four pillars of personal wellbeing – Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual. The key takeaway from the event was, like our smartphones, when your internal battery is low, you should take time to recharge!Reflecting on her own personal resilience strategies, High Impact Lab’s Sue Matheson said:
“Vitality is one of my core-values […] Every decision I make during the day can either move me towards vitality or it can move me towards decay. Having that clarity has really helped me live my values.”
Team Resilience: Culture is the Glue
The second #WhatWorks Resilience Series installment tapped into an issue at the heart of many organizations in 2021 – How to keep teams happy and motivated during a time when face-to-face contact is limited, and many businesses have adapted to working remotely. The presentation emphasised that these factors can cause internal conflict and lead to a deterioration of team moral if not properly addressed. Proactive communication, adopting new workflow tools and even setting up “virtual coffee rooms” were some of the strategies that were discussed to keep teams collaborative and motivated to work!East Side Games CEO Josh Nilson had a unique perspective on Zoom calls and meeting virtually:
“I think it’s great now that everyone gets a square… [and] no one’s square is fancier or bigger than the others.”
Business Resilience: Cybersecurity during (and after) COVID
Part three of the series shifted focus away from the human side of an organization to a more technical topic: Cybersecurity. In this presentation, viewers learned that the sudden transition from working in an office, to working from home in 2020 had left many companies’ sensitive data vulnerable to hackers and cybercriminals. This was largely due to many people using poorly protected personal devices for work. This informative and engaging presentation raised several strategies to increase cybersecurity, including cloud-computing, VPNs and simply ensuring your antivirus software is up to date on every device you use for work!
Dianne Lapierre, from the CIO Association of Canada, summed up the collective responsibility of cyber security, saying: “The whole risk landscape changed overnight right […] everybody needs to be a player in in keeping their environment, safe and secure.”
Business Resilience: Digital Engagement
The fourth and final installment was a practical, hands-on look at digital engagement as it exists in 2021. With people spending more time online than ever before, we learned that businesses must evaluate their strategies to capitalize on this influx of attention in digital spaces. At the center of this, is learning where their audience’s attention now is, and adapting to meet them there, rather than relying on where it used to be in the past. One of the highlights from this event was uncovering the term B2P, or Business to People, which describes the need for companies to adopt a new approach that focuses on catering to people’s needs and opinions, during these unique times.
Session speaker, Chris Peacock from Traction on Demand said it best:
“Businesses often differentiate between B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer). However, at the end of the day, it’s all B2P—business-to-people.”
The #WhatWorks Resilience Series would not be possible without the support of our sponsors. This series was sponsored by Amazon, Rogers Communications and SAP. Here is what our sponsor, Rogers Communications had to say:
“Rogers is a proud sponsor of the #WhatWorks Resilience Series. We are thrilled to connect with businesses across British Columbia, understand their challenges and support them in their growth and development. Rogers is dedicated to giving back to our communities and an important part of this is our local businesses who drive our Canadian economy.” Rick Sellers, President of B.C. Region, Rogers Communications
