Business Strategies for 2021: COVID19 Recovery
Top 5 Challenges in Reopening Cities and reaching successful outcomes:
By Craig Stark and the Safe Space Solutions Team
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Top 5 Challenges in Reopening Cities and reaching successful outcomes v1.1
Situational Facts:
The pandemic is not over at vaccine distribution- it is expected to be a persistent threat for 3-5 years requiring a level of sustained safety and compliance.
- Changing inputs to safety protocols, application and monitoring- prime example is use of masks, now mandatory and enforceable- safe distancing moving to 10-12 feet in high risk spaces- gyms, schools and restaurants.
- Advancing medical discoveries on effects of virus, super spreaders, asymptomatic with immunosuppression and spread up to 7 months unabated. Variability of virus strains. New Coronavirus strains identified are already in North America with a more virulent capability.
- Indoor Air Quality –standards in development as knowledge base warns it’s a major vector for spread-requiring HVAC auditing and very specific use / performance testing and retrofitting to be compliant and requires extensive monitoring of the IAQ with systems level data to get to proof of performance.
Problems:
Commercial Risk operators/managers cutting back on policy coverage by putting more liability risk on business owners/ governments / employers to solve for reopening safety compliance with new classifications and premium structures.
- No unified body for standards in performance or compliance approval process or monitoring.
- Moving targets of protocols and policies with no central communications model to avert more misinterpretation and thus adherence to orders.
- No single, trusted data driven view of performance or compliance.
- No certification process or protocols in most areas. Some States have created hybrid policies (Connecticut self-assessment and certification with public feedback to monitor)
Implications:
The tables are clearly turned in the risk aspect, leaving companies and building operators to navigate the variables, interpret local/state/ national guidelines and react to safety measures in escalating/ de-escalating orders which may endure for months or years. This affects all similar businesses with the broad brush approach.
- Chambers of Commerce watch main street die without the ability to help solve the problem. The percentage of restaurant failures is predicted to be 15% and respective permanent job losses.
- Uncertainty in how to react/ invest further: “If I do all these things can I stay open next time? It’s critical to business survival.”
- What else do I need to do? Who can validate what is the right mix and in what order of investment?
- Employees in every classification are worried about returning to work. Law suit potential and liability risk is high.
Implicit Needs:
- Know what you don’t know– get to certainty and accessible to all efficiently.
- Get to the most credible resources for direction CDC, Johns Hopkins et.al. combined and synchronized for fool proof execution and sustaining value.
- The need for a recognized, tunable assessment protocol to get to specific needs and priorities to reopen safely.
- Executive summary and self certification process.
- Roll up reports and status data with district certifications and publish a heat map for monitoring and management.
- Add highly accessible communications and compliance monitoring data feedback loop with standardized formatting and contents.
- Proper strategy to move from compliance to resilience, warranting government and other stakeholder investments. (Not blanket support payments)
- Keep this process out of infrastructure budget discussions as the costs can swell.
How we can help:
We have created a “tuned system” to validate the application of risk mitigation procedures and protocols backed by the use of KPIs and data enabled by best in class technologies and services partners.
As any of the variables discussed are changed, our system can be re-calibrated and updated allowing a building and its tenants to operate without the fear of further lock downs.
- Consultation on certification protocols and standards.
- Partner with us. We can help with sense making and strategy for municipalities, regions and corporate real estate sectors.
- Do the Safe Space Solutions Assessment for your buildings and workforce to determine a quick score and report on priorities and next steps.
Contact us for information on:
- Developing priorities for budget review
- Roadmap of projects and performance
- Independent Technology Review
