When life throws you lemons, make lemonade, they say! And that is wise advice and the best way to make the most of any situation you may be facing in your life.

Focus on what you can do instead of what you cannot!

Are you concerned about how limited/ affected your functioning is in the current situation? It is human tendency to focus on what we cannot achieve, often ignoring, to our disadvantage, the vast possibilities at hand through what we can achieve.

So here's what you can do. Pull out your pen and pad.

• Make a list of possibilities you can achieve, given the current limitations at hand. Ask each of your employees to do the same. Set a time frame and a game plan to achieving these.

• Hold a brain storming session or a survey on how you can move your company to the next level. Ask all employees to contribute with suggestions, ideas and positive criticism. You may be surprised at the outcome.

• Make a list of cost cutting avenues within operations (and we don't mean salary cuts). Under regular operating mode, companies overlook many unnecessary expenditure, which are a drain in the long run. Every drop in a leaking pipeline depletes the reserves. Carefully study your processes and activity. If an expenditure is not critical for success you can decide on your line of action.

• Train & Up-skill - Under lock-down you can use the additional time available to train and up-skill across all hierarchies. Prepare your teams to skill up for better performances, learn new skills, update current ones or focus on building stronger teams. Bespoke virtual training modules are available (contact us for assistance www.retailconnections.co.in) keeping in consideration the required social distancing norms.

Do write in to us for any assistance or tell us how you or your company have productively used your time during the COVID lockdown.