The Next Steps 

COVID-19 has dramatically changed the world we find ourselves in.  Business and consumer behaviours have changed significantly. New paradigms have been introduced to all spheres of daily life.   Many of these behaviours will remain long after the defeat of the virus.  

New behaviours become permanent the longer they are in place. In many cases there will be no return to previous models or the so called “normal”. Non-Profits and businesses must consider how the current crisis will also change the way we interact with one another in this new and strange world. New models of doing business must be developed to adjust to the changes in customer behaviour post COVID-19. Many new behaviours will be normalized as customers practice them repeatedly over months. 

A proactive approach is needed to survive        COVID-19 

The leadership of EMIT adopted a proactive approach early in the crisis. This helped us to become very creative in developing a different model of training that suited our new reality. By June of 2020 we started training our more than 370 volunteers in Africa, as facilitators. These facilitators now gather EMIT students in their areas in small groups of not more than 15 for training.  Our manuals have been re-formatted to suite small group training events. Over the last 6 months of 2020, we had 147 small group events with more than 1200 students in attendance. The new model is working!  

EMIT will continue to study the behavioural shifts in our industry. We will adjust and modify our products and services. We are ready to act quickly to meet current and future student needs. The executive team, full time staff and volunteers are committed to continue to develop relevant training materials and to keep on serving our students with passion and excellence.  

Next steps  

• Debrief 

The EMIT executive will work through the data received from our students and facilitators in 2020 to determine our strengths and weaknesses during the pandemic.  We will ensure that all staff and students understand our current situation and possible future actions. 

•  Scrutinise 

We will scrutinise our actions to determine best practises for future growth.  It is important that we identify what might be changing in the short and medium term.  

We will continue to conduct student interviews, surveys, and market research. These will be analysed, in order to validate new behaviours, we are seeing and hearing.  

We will continue to lead with empathy. We want to be part of the solution not the crisis. 

•  Innovative action

Keeping momentum requires forward thinking, new strategies and re-planning on many fronts. Armed with new insights from the marketplace, we will re-plan and prioritize strategies and tactics in all critical areas.  

Bottom line 

History shows that in times of great challenge, creativity thrives. In these uncertain circumstances we also find wonderful opportunities for serving our culture even better than before. EMIT will continue to be pro-active in its approach to the pandemic and the future paradigm changes it brings.