Covid-19 Response | CSP Innovate

Rapidly-deployed COVID-19 response planning and coordination solution for business and government

Crisis Response

In the past two months, we have seen a significant increase in awareness of the business challenges associated with responding to COVID-19, aka coronavirus. In response, several HYPE Innovation customers have commenced refocusing their collective intelligence programs to support employees and customers in a very different way, reports Colin Nelson, a Director of HYPE Innovation.

Processes and software currently used to support innovation, change management and efficiency programs for business and government are being repurposed to support a very different set of urgent needs with existential consequences for many people.

CASE STUDY

Government of Togo launches COVID-19 Solution Hackathon

The campaign is in in French but will give you some idea of how a solution looks. It’s a public campaign so you can register and explore in more detail.

Visit campaign

How long will this new way of life last?

No one knows for sure. Several things are now clear:

Many of us will work remotely, perhaps for months
Complex organizations will need to learn how to operate effectively with a workforce that’s far more distributed than ever before
Day-to-day communication may take longer as we rely on remote working principles and online support
Employees will have new daily concerns, especially on how to juggle those closest to them. They could be supporting ‘at-risk’ groups, such as the elderly while educating children at home due to school closures, not to mention getting their day job done – all without their normal social support group of friends and colleagues.

Campaign Examples

Here are some examples of campaigns to facilitate the design and execution of your COVID-19 response plan:

1) How can we react appropriately to COVID-19?

What are the urgent measures we need to take?
Measures are focused on the short-term and may need to be implemented immediately. Focus on your employees’ health and safety, then operational concerns to help them continue to operate. Run a challenge with your top management, team leads, and middle management to understand what should happen next.

How can we operate within this new paradigm?
The current crisis is expected to last an indeterminate amount of time. Most organizations want to avoid layoffs as you don’t want to lose critical know-how. Cost-savings and process optimization challenges are a constructive way to find alternative methods of savings and making money. Again, run challenges with your top management, team leads, middle management.

How can we best support our customers, given the changing circumstances?
Consider how your organization can provide relief to your customers’ challenges. You could run an online challenge with your customers to better understand what they’re facing. Communicating effectively with customers during a time of crisis is also an important topic to address. Run a challenge with your communication specialists, frontline workers, and salesforce.

What issues do employees anticipate that we haven’t addressed?
With new information every hour, decisions may need to be made quickly, and that means swiftly engaging the right people at the right time. Outdated processes or lack of proper infrastructure might be brought to light. Ensure that everyone has a voice and can speak about their fears and concerns.

2) How can we support employees who can't work remotely?

It might not be possible for all employees to stay at home. Consider the following campaign questions:

How can we protect emergency responders?

How can we support our frontline workers and keep them healthy?
This might include your employees working in production, laboratories, grocery stores, retail, construction, healthcare, and many more. Make sure to include your frontline workers in the conversation. It is crucial to get their opinions and understand their fears. Consider using HYPE's mobile app to connect with them wherever their work takes them.

3) How can we best support remote working?

You may need to make changes to enable more employees to work from home. Consider the following campaign questions:

How can we still collaborate effectively without being together in person?

What lessons do home workers have for those that are new to working from home?

How can we continue to solve problems, create new things, and validate our assumptions when our employees are working less predictable hours?

How can we deal with a fast-moving situation where unforeseen issues and needs can emerge at a moment’s notice?

There’s a lot that can be learned during this time of crisis. These changed behaviors will not only be useful for your immediate response but will also make your organization more resilient in the future.

If you would like to discuss your COVID-19 crisis management plan, please contact us below.