Brent Leary
Key Learnings and Action Steps. We always like this stuff.
Mona Abou Sayed
Yeah, so I think we've said it over and over remote working is definitely here to stay. It's not going away anytime soon. So we have to be, we have to start thinking carefully about how we're prepared for that future, evaluate your business and your employees and how are you going to enable them to be successful in the future and that those cultural, and fortunately I think you're, you're, our younger generations coming into the workforce are already are pretty accustomed to the digital world. You know maybe the baby boomers are going to have a little bit harder time but they're not that's not across the board. I'm glad to see that, you know, this definitely coming across really well so remote working will persist. We're all at a different point of the journey.
You have to look at the people process and the technology to guide your strategy, there's no, there's no single answer, but there is definitely there are answers and there's a way for you to get through that journey others, there's people that can help you around that. No one's fully optimized so, think, think long term and look at the steps to get to the future that's going to allow you to be seamless. And as we, as we've had to react in this, you know, in our lifetime probably the first time we've ever had to react in this way we should we should not expect that this may be the last right. So make sure that we have that playbook in place. And then, you know, make sure technology you're at you are using it to facilitate how you how you run your business and that you're not being a slave to it. And so looking at how the technology interacts and not just join it, is definitely going to is definitely going to help people embrace it, you get a sustainable process moving forward and enable good experiences across the board for your customers as well because at the end of the day, if you don't have satisfied customers you don't have a business.
Brent Leary
Alright do we have. Wow, well we came to the end, this is flowing so smooth I was like, this is some good stuff. So let's take a look at, you know, post pandemic we'll get past this, what what is it going to look like from an SMB perspective? What is the environment going to look like? What is it what are they going to need to, what are they going to have to operate in once we actually pass this?
Laurie McCabe
I think a hybrid work environment, you know that's got a lot more flexibility, some workers may never come back to the office, and some may come back, you know, on a more limited basis. Others may prefer to work in the office for some of the reason Mona has said, but we're going to have to accommodate a lot more flexibility in our where work gets done. I think we talked about, you know, people have to be able to get their work done anytime, anywhere, on any device as necessary. So that is what will be the hallmark of the successful SMB.
Mona Abou Sayed
I think it's a it's all of all of what Laurie said and I want to re-emphasize the role of leaders and driving the culture that is going to make it sustainable, not only, not only from a you know humanizing and making sure that you you're building that empathy and leaders are thinking about the, the training and the onboarding and the and the facilitating of all of the environments that we that we have to deal with.
But also from a, you know, also from a technology standpoint and how we choose the technology that is going to make it sustainable so it's a combination, I think, I think you're absolutely right. There's going to be the emergence of a hybrid worker that you know I'm one of them I, I always I always have believed, it's great to able to work from home and I and it's definitely, you're able to get your job done at home, but I've always. I've always preferred that forced separation of work and home.
And as I've had the progress over the last several weeks, I realized that you know what, with the right boundaries and the right limits I can make it work really well as well too. So, we're all kind of coming along this journey at a different pace.
Brent Leary
Alright so this is a $64 question, that’s all I can afford right now.
So, we know what small business was like post, I mean pre COVID. Is a small business post COVID gonna be on par with what it was before, or is it going to be a little worse than what was before or do you see there's a bright future and even a brighter future than before COVID.
Laurie McCabe
Brighter. Absolutely. Out of every, like if you think back to the Great Recession, out of every down turn so much great stuff, so much innovation rises to the top right and small business, and entrepreneurs and innovators, and I got a bunch of things I've been reading about all people building new, innovative businesses that, you know, tap into some of the things going on today, and I have no doubt in a few years we're going to look back and say wow this was one of the most innovative periods, ever.
Mona Abou Sayed
Completely agree, I think necessity is the mother of invention and if we were always, if we always do what we've always done we're going to get will always gotten right. And you need a forcing factor sometimes to reinvent and innovate. I've seen so many, like I said, small companies think very differently and, and we will look back at this and realize that you know life was forever changed, that's for sure. And I think there's definitely an opportunity for the better. And I think it's, it's also key to even in you know everything from personal and social aspects to business access aspect, we really think differently about what is the most important right, maybe travel in some in some sectors was excessive for. Did I really need to travel?
Right. Maybe I have a completely new way of thinking about things and so yes we're all forever, forever changed after this.
Laurie McCabe
And the other plug that I’ll put for SMBs, is that smaller businesses have to pivot more quickly, they just don't have the cash flow to sustain if they can't right. And so part of that is a forcing function but also part is that they're closer to their customers anyway usually. And so, you know, they've got that ear to the ground, and are listening and really tuning into the things that they're going to need to do a little bit differently maybe to make the customer, really want to, to buy from them, in a different kind of environment.
Mona Abou Sayed
Right.
Brent Leary
So this this 30 minutes went by real quick. But before we go, can each of you tell us where we can go and find out more about some of the things we just talked about.
Laurie McCabe
Mona.
Mona Abou Sayed
Sure, Mitel.com, we have an entire campaign and resources for employees, for our customers and our partners around remote working and how you can, how you can leverage dollar solutions to drive better remote working and. So yeah, lots of lots of information on Mitel.com.
Laurie McCabe
And Laurie McCabe, you can find me at Laurie McCabe, or I have a blog there on my twitter and also at SMB group, and our SMB group website and we're doing a lot of stuff in this space in the work from home and the whole SMB and COVID-19 area.
Brent Leary
Well, I like to thank both of you for joining me today. It was a great conversation, and I always like when we can mix in some stats with some, some actually color to the stats and start looking to the future and seeing. I'm glad you guys said, there's a positive, brighter future for small business because I have a suspicion that a lot of folks are feeling a little apprehensive but it's good to hear that, you guys think we're going in the right direction. I'm going to join you. I'm going to say, I think there is a positive right.
Mona Abou Sayed
Now is the time to think outside the box that's absolutely right.
Brent Leary
All right. Well, thanks everybody for checking it out, and we will talk to you later. I'll talk a little bit later too so hopefully we'll all talk later together soon sometime.
Laurie McCabe
Thanks.
Mona Abou Sayed
Thanks Brent, thanks Laurie.