“May you live in unprecedented times”.

Arguably, this wish has been granted for us all! 

The post-pandemic pace of change in our industry now requires us to embrace change at a pace never before envisioned.  We now need to dramatically improve our ability to adapt to the “new normal”, rethink our goals and objectives, and make a solid decision as to how sustainable success can be achieved in the shortest possible time.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is clearly not a “copy/paste” undertaking with a proven roadmap to follow.  Organizational leadership is under incredible pressure to “step up” and define new business strategies that ensure core capabilities are aligned in such a manner that market opportunities can be exploited and incremental safety risk-managed to levels as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) so as to ensure commercial sustainability. 

Decisions made during these challenging times will most certainly define the organization going forward while at the same time potentially causing legacy practices that led to the organization’s history of success to be reviewed and/or suspended so as not to create imbalance generating gaps that lead to accidents or non-compliance penalties.

The challenge now is how to best adjust to the “new normal” while maintaining effective operational safety and quality oversight. I believe the key elements of success going forward will depend upon sound proactive/predictive decision-making, timely alignment of processes and procedures, and effective communication initiatives among internal organizational stakeholders.

Improving decision-making to safely adapt to the New Normal

One of the most important aspects of sound decision-making is to first understand that an organization is actually a complex “system of systems” within which all elements have their own unique and equally important role in making the system work.  More importantly, it must be acknowledged that adjustments or changes to these elements, regardless of how seemingly small and/or insignificant, have the clear potential of affecting the manner in which other elements function.

Secondly, key stakeholders need to “have a seat at the table” and their respective concerns and considerations heard whenever strategic post-pandemic business decisions are being made. Such stakeholder representation must include, but certainly not be limited to, safety/risk management/ quality department management who, as integral parts of the management system, work together in a type of symbiotic relationship that supports organizational success and sustainability. 

While operational process owners define the needs of the customer in this new reality, execution of QMS/SMS processes will ensure that these needs are continually met, that effective and sustainable risk controls are in place, and that desired results are being achieved.   

Thirdly, the establishment of an effective management of change (MOC) framework by the CEO (Accountable Manager) and communicated to the senior management team, as suggested below, will notably improve decision making as the organization continues its journey toward “restart and recovery” journey:

• Define and communicate the new organizational strategy, based on external/internal context realities as this will be set the tone for decision making within the organization.
• Adopt a holistic mindset of safety and quality by understanding that safety and quality processes are not costs to be avoided but effective methodologies that support business continuity and sustainability.
• Define a governance structure to manage ramp-up of operations that ensure that key process owners e.g., operations, maintenance, marketing, product, safety, and quality are included and committees established at the operational, tactical, and strategic levels to ensure that timely and effective flow of key information for decision making takes place.
• Provide a seat to QMS/SMS representative on key high-level committees where both tactical, as well as strategic decisions, take place. Remember that it is more effective to address safety/quality concerns during the development of system design (decisions) rather than forensically after something bad has already taken place.
• Periodically review, and if necessary, adjust “risk appetite” levels so as to accommodate incremental risk associated with the inevitable ramp-up of pandemic operations. NOTE:  It is key here to re-evaluate “risk appetite” levels once operations have been normalized.
• Direct process owners to perform change management (MOC) processes that, as a minimum, address potential hazards and associated controls to be implemented as supported through the analysis of the safety and quality department.
• Request constant performance monitoring reports to ensure that new system assumptions are validated, appropriate actions implemented, and results are shown to be effective.
• Ensure that during an operational downturn, the safety and quality departments are fully engaged to support decision-making and monitoring of operational changes to ensure safe and compliant outcomes.
• Ensure cooperative work with local authorities to ensure exemptions or alternate means of compliance, supported by risk analysis, can be established for supporting a ramp-up of operations.

Adjusting processes to the New Reality

Once decisions have been made, they must be effectively implemented and executed within the organization in a manner consistent with the existing QMS. Process owners must ensure that management decisions are executed, adequate resources are provided, and that processes and procedures are created, re-engineered, or suspended as needed to ensure a safe and sustainable outcome. This is key to ensuring that such initiatives are not created in an ad hoc or stand-alone manner thus allowing them to quickly and quite predictably disappear. 

Strengthening communication and feedback channels throughout the organization

Most management and staff employees are not clairvoyant and strongly depend upon effective and timely communication.  Once restart and recovery procedural changes have been made, they need to be formalized and communicated immediately to front-line personnel. 

Therefore, the presence of an effective communication system becomes mission-critical to ensuring timely transmission and receipt of information so that implementation can commence.  The full use of automation and technology platforms to include, but not limited to, digital social media, short training videos, infographics, and video conferencing sessions will ensure the timely and effective implementation of tactical operational requirements.   

Please allow me to share one final thought.  As post-pandemic restart and recovery leaders, we have a tremendous responsibility, not only within our organization itself but to the many people within the organization whose family’s life security depends upon its continued success and viability.

My friends, this heavy responsibility is firmly on our shoulders to make the very best decisions possible for the future.  The best way of doing this is by acknowledging the potential fall-out of faulty decision-making and ensuring that everyone within the organization works together to ensure an effective and safe transition into our New Reality.