Recently, Petra Coach hosted a Coaches’ Corner – a 1-hour session of live Q&A with Certified Petra Coaches. This webinar featured coaches Andy Bailey, Marshall Martin, JT Terrell and Chip Gallent.

The content is invaluable to leaders during this unprecedented time.

You can find the full recording here.

To augment the recording, below is a brief recap of questions, answers and resources from the session.

Q: What are some things I can do to keep my team engaged online, when traditionally we work in person?

A: Huddle with your team – preferably first thing in the morning and evening. This is also a great time to be creating content for your users. Give more than you have to right now. Think about where in your organization you can pivot – and potentially turn into something bigger than you had before.

Book Reference: Fanocracy by David Meerman Scott

 

Q: When do you predict the day-to-day will begin getting back to “normal?”

A: Normal? Never. Think more about returning to a “better normal.” We can make the new normal be whatever we want it to be. Your team may work from home indefinitely now – more time with their families and less commuting. Depending on when we get a vaccine for COVID-19 will determine when the new “normal” will happen. Normal is a state of comfort, and we won’t be able to go back to that like it was before.

 

Q: I’m going to school for massage therapy – should I start building an online reputation or posting what I’m learning?

A: Show your interest in helping others and go ahead and start posting. Figure out something that will build you revenue without actually having to go out and do a massage (i.e. teaching a guided massage online).

 

Q: Looking for guidance on setting up goals for leading indicators of production efficiency to track in Align – specifically on how to make our repair process faster. What are the leading indicators for an activity like speed of repair process?

A: Anytime you are tracking a process, there are multiple steps to that. Start with breaking down the steps and see where you can make small improvements so that once you put the process back together you will notice sizable changes.

Resource Reference: Hilary Corna

Think About:

  • Set a target – In how much time do you want to complete a project?
  • What are the resources that it takes to get to this outcome?
    • In your case, people, thinking and time are your biggest resource
  • How much time do I need to put towards this to get it accomplished?
  • Number of repetitive meetings to complete this?
  • How often and how long with you need to meet and measure that amount of time you’ve put towards the priority?
  • You can also measure how much time you have shaved off from the original time it takes to complete the process.

Q: What are some options and ideas to keep global team members upbeat and positive? The news and media are wearing on our people.

A: Find a culture warrior on their team and have them come up with ideas for the team.

Ideas for Zoom:

  • Zoom meetings during the day for good news
  • Bring your pet
  • Virtual lunches together
  • “MTV Cribs” – show off your digs to the team
  • Turn off mute so you can hear people laugh

Something to take people’s mind off the work and media for a bit. Do your best to simulate virtually what you have been doing in person. Replicate the environment that existed before this happened.

Make times during the day where the team just leaves Zoom on, and if you need to ask a question, you can or chat briefly.

Resource References:

Denny Corby – Close-up Magician

Anna Birch – Team-building exercises through Zoom

 

Q: Can we touch on a few top financial management tips you would give during this time?

A: If you have applied for the PPP loans, then the next step is managing the forgiveness of those loans. Put the funds in a separate bank account and spend it on the things that are forgivable and track it – rent, payroll, etc.

Keep track of any expenses you have had because of the situation – had to buy gloves for your team, etc. There could be tax forgiveness on dollars spent at this time. You can also track additional time team members are spending on things they are now working on related to the changes.

Pick up the phone and have a conversation with your vendors, creditors and people you owe money to and let them know your situation and what you can pay at the moment.

Look at PNL on a daily basis – you will have a really good idea of where your dollars are going, and your team will too.

Put 1% of revenue, put it in a separate account that you do not touch.

Book Reference: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

 

Q: Where would you invest cash in your business today for a small investment and a large investment?

A: Think about:

  • Your largest expense (could be payroll)
  • Investing in the capabilities of the people you have (i.e. training and development)
  • The top three things that you would regret not doing during this time and do that
  • Where you need to stop spending money
  • Virtual selling capabilities

 

Q: If you have debt that you needed to refinance, how reluctant are banks going to be in the future?

A: Anticipate that things will be more heavily scrutinized, and it will slow down the ability to get money through the process.

 

Q: Should I take my PPP dollars and invest them in the market?

A: Even if you don’t feel like you don’t need the money now, you make need it later. You may want to be conservative. If you want to invest, think about investing in places where you have control.

 

Q: Is there anything that would legally prevent someone from investing PPP money?

A: We haven’t seen anything yet, and we still feel like it’s better to keep it in the business.

 

Q: How far out should I plan right now?

A: In situations like this, you will want to plan for shorter amounts of time since things keep changing. Think about 30 days from now.