A few global market projections for the first quarter of the new year have telltale volumes of resounding gloom. Bad economic implications of the recessive and often paralytic nature are a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Forbes noted how supply chains in the industry would be severely affected as most low-cost laborers are outsourced from China, where the outbreak is said to have hit first.
On equal footing, Nike shares reflect this scenario as it dives to four percent in January 2021. The grim forecast is not far-fetched as the troublesome worldwide health crisis is coming on a full twelve-month circle soon. Despite this news which rightfully should warrant sorrow, there is, nonetheless, a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. The shift in consumer trends created avenues for business makers to take advantage of.
The Internet is the lightning rod
In a metaphorical analogy, money is lightning, and the Internet is the lightning rod. As it stands today, those who could manipulate the current energy flow are on track to change the world. Tech giants have recognized the unfathomable craze that is in social media and has handsomely rewarded those who by any means could “influence” those who share in its light.
Tech public relations services, in return, became such a favorable to-go strategy. GameStop recently became an unwitting (but surely not unlucky) example of a stock market fiasco when it hit rounds at the social media platform Reddit. This has prompted Wall Street to credit internet influencers as a force to be reckoned with in this new age of advertising.
When it first took shape in the 1990s, social media has gone through various transformations and iterations. Influencers and creators have now proven to be wielders of the digital revolution. Friendster was then the humble forebear of the era, with users boasting about their often glittery home screens and pages upon pages of testimonials from friends. Investors in the current market scene are wise not to ignore internet creators. More home-bound consumers and general business practices alike are needlessly inclined to partake of the online universe in all its complexities.
Break it to me gently
The singer of the popular 80s ballad version, Angela Bofill, was an often overlooked prodigy, as aptly placed by an online write-up to “have the makings to be a much bigger star than she was,” and unfortunately, lost and commercially adrift during the Reagan era as producers somehow were clueless on what to do with her career. The great commercial “break” for artists and investors alike is the four-leaf clovers of their respective industries. In today’s Angela Boffil-like scenario, the producers being the investors should take at heart the frequencies of emotions within the workplace and the online environment.
The Entrepreneur Magazine interprets a key characteristic in the success of an organization through the honestly measured ability to communicate with the core components of the industry both inside and outside the organization. Words that travel across channels of communications create waves throughout, as experienced by Melvin Capital and its debacle surrounding the GameStop stocks where one’s conduct drew ire from a collective of strangers.
The spoken word has never gotten such credence than ever before, especially when published on the Internet. When one considers the number of time people spent communicating on the job, it is not surprising how staggering the relevance it bears for the entire company itself.
Navigating through emotions with words as your vehicle is as relenting as demanding, and it requires patience as it does patience. Jane Qiu, the co-founder of Kintell, offers a few insights in traversing the nooks and crannies in a Forbes online article. She talks about the hazards of using the same communication style for each individual and the disadvantages of asking for instant replies and giving too much information for one person to deal with.
These highlighted factors in dealing with people every day are as surmountable to note that as market builders, your functions are also of culture building. The culture that one great business founder should inculcate in the workplace besides productivity is mastering communication, as one arrives at productivity when the environment fosters creative dialogue and conscious decision-making free of whim or coercion. This free-flowing dialogue process also nurtures camaraderie and empowerment of workers’ strengths (and probably avoid Angela Bofill-like scenarios).
Lastly, be human enough to “break it gently” when bad news needs to be delivered. Your employees need to be informed to sustain their mentality and productivity. Avoiding the inevitable can only worsen the situation.