Getting it Done During the Pandemic

Getting it Done During the Pandemic

Robert S. Michaud, P.E.

July 23, 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly caused a great deal of stress and uncertainty in many businesses. The result, in many cases, is a hesitation or a holding out of projects and programs as businesses wait to see when this pandemic status may end. At the time of this writing, there is no clear end in sight. There are hopeful signs of vaccines and therapeutics that are being expedited through trials, but the reality is that we will likely be in the same business posture six months or a year from now. As depressing as that sounds, there is some up-side to it. The fact is, for those fortunate businesses that have not been completely closed by the virus, we have largely adjusted our business practices to make the best of the current situation. We have put into practice methods and procedures designed to minimize the risk to our employees and our customers. As challenging as this situation is, if you are reading this and your business is operational – congratulations, you have adapted.

So what now? No, we cannot go back to the pre-Covid “normal” days just yet, but that doesn’t mean that we are completely dead in the water either. In fact, our next challenge is going to be to get back to those “normal” operation items and get them done as best we can, even in these non-normal times (I refuse to use the term “new-normal” because that implies that our current status is the way it will always be going forward, and that just isn’t likely). The maintenance back-log has been growing over the last 4 months and it isn’t going away by itself. Those capital projects that were up for discussion at the first of the year still need to get done. The inspections of your facility and infrastructure still need to happen, even if the results from the inspections won’t be acted on until after the pandemic passes.

The bottom line is that life moves on, and so does our work. The key to our survival is our amazing ability to adapt to a wide range of circumstances. For the past few months, we have gone through several phases from locking down completely, to slowly emerging and gradual re-opening, to adapting policies and procedures. These adaptations will continue and the strongest companies will be the ones that took this opportunity to maximize what they COULD get done, rather than dwell on what COULD NOT get done.

Take some time to look at your facilities and put together plans of action to address those things that are feasible. Can you have your roof inspected safely? Sure. Can you have a consultant evaluate an HVAC problem that has been giving you trouble? Of course. How about taking a closer look at the manufacturing line to see if there are better ways to improve production and efficiency while complying with new safety protocols? Yes, there are consultants and contractors that can safely help here too.

The world hasn’t stopped turning. We cannot wait until things are back to normal to get done what needs to be done.

© Michaud Engineering Inc. 2020