Algedra CEO Mohab Ayoub on Important Lessons to Learn from COVID-19 Situation

For cycled events such as recession, businesses are able to plan ahead and gradually prepare to adjust operational structure, yearly or quarterly targets and budgets, but unexpected crisis such as Coronavirus (COVID-19) that nobody was ready for, with its harsh implications to the countries put businesses and their people into extreme positions. While some industries saw the growth, in other sectors businesses faced risks of bankruptcy if not rescued by the injection of funds.

“The world is seeing the biggest crash of economies, where people’s lives are getting affected and governments of the countries are trying to find the best solutions balancing the priorities.” – says Mohab Ayoub, CEO of Algedra, an international Interior design firm with headquarters in Dubai.

Algedra was one of the first companies that have successfully transformed its operations into a remote working environment. Mohab Ayoub shared his thoughts and lesson to take out from the emerged pandemic crisis and apply in the future post-pandemic daily life and tips for business to be prepared for any arising situation. Here are some tips from Mohab Ayoub:

#1 Acting Fast

Slow decision making on further actions may come out costly. While you think, others act.

Taking decisions is a complex process, but in critical situations like this acting fast is crucial. The process of assessing the risks in depth is important. Having in place a clear system of decision making will accelerate the process and help to act and move forward timeously, and give the ability to benefit from outside factors pressuring decision making.

#2 Flexibility

Being flexible. Smaller businesses have an immense advantage of implementing changes and adjust much faster than big corporations. There is always resistance to the change, being flexible will minimize the friction. Whether it is adopting new strategical tactics or being more flexible with your team, or pushing aside some minor priority goals.  Be flexible to adjust your vision along the way if necessary.

#3 Innovation

Accepting the fact that the world and lifestyle of people will never be the same and innovation is the key to success in this exponential environment. Covid-19 situation just accelerated the process of new technologies and digital disruption. Embracing the change gives the ability to increase market share through innovation and will give a competitive advantage.

#4 Focus

It is easy to lose focus during critical times. Overwhelming floats of information with a lot of it being controversial acts as big destruction and might take you out of the track of what is really important. Stay informed about the major updates that might directly affect you or your business by choosing only a few trusted sources.

Concentrate on internal things that are within your control, rather than external factors you cannot control.  Keep the focus on your strategical goals and ways to achieve them.

#5 Communication

Stay social while social distancing. Meaningful interactions, build meaningful relations, whether it is your team, business partners, clients, or family and friends. Communicating effectively erases uncertainties in any situation and gives clarity of understanding the grounds. In a critical situation, communication becomes more significant. With the world switching to virtual communication by force do your best to stay connected.

#6 Health

Your health is your priority. While striving for major achievements, overworking, lack of sleep and lack of time to workout, can knock your health and overall wellbeing. In the time of the pandemic crisis, we all were reminded how important it is to take care of our health. Take this time to adopt good habits of self-care. This may sound like banality, however, being healthy and full of energy will give you the strength to overcome any crisis, clarity of thinking, and the ability to take care of others.

BizEducator