Building Resilience in Difficult Times
June 2, 2020
The unfolding impact of the global pandemic crisis has given business leaders across many sectors a unique opportunity to exercise their brand agility and see how their team works during stressful times.
It’s not an opportunity anyone would wish for but, despite the challenges and devastation so many businesses have faced, it has been heartening to witness a coming together of community to offer support and be patient with each other. In the property development and real estate sectors, that patience has been tested as laws around social distancing continually evolve, with brand responsiveness to changing ways to do business proving quite complex and, at times, confusing. For Projects by Buxton Director, Heath Thompson, the crisis has created an excitement and fresh engagement with clients and partners that he wasn’t expecting to experience.
“There have definitely been some crazy times but when you start to see a light at the end of a tunnel, there are many things to celebrate about the way you’ve seen your team adapt and maintain their positivity,” says Heath. “Everything about the way we previously did business has changed in some way and, on the whole, it’s been interesting and even positive to be able to streamline processes and examine our ability to service our clients in a way that’s efficient and still so thorough.” By looking inwardly, Heath says that each and every member of the Projects by Buxton team has found ways to explore the way they interact – and then improve those ways to adapt to current circumstances.
“Great brands need to be flexible,” he adds. “At first, we all thought working from home was a curse but now we are confident that we can actually achieve so much while on the move and working from locations we never had to work from before.” The timing to transition the Projects by Buxton business to a more mobile model was something, fortunately, Heath says was already actively underway. “In our case, that timing was positive and we are so grateful to be in a strong position because of that commitment to innovation,” says Heath.
The technology at the team’s disposal has played an integral part in the way they will continue to do business – something that Heath says is less about “smoke and mirrors” and more about authentic insights and practical support. “One idea I’ve always subscribed to is the fact that you can’t control the uncontrollable,” says Heath.
Dealing with the laws from both state and federal governments that impacted so acutely on the property development and real estate sales sector definitely fell into the category of things beyond the management of his team at Projects by Buxton. But when it came to the ability to control their own actions as a response to dealing with the situation, Heath says it was important to be aware of the surrounding noise without letting it impact on his own clear focus.
“Creating ways to communicate clearly – with everyone involved in the projects we’re involved in – was key,” Heath says. “Fight or flight can be make or break and for us, even though there were definitely moments of panic, we recognized the need to stay grounded and move forward. Really, it was the only possible option.” Heath knows the difficult days are far from over but believes brands that can strategise creatively, while still remaining congruent with their brand values, can have a chance to do more than merely survive – they have the potential to thrive.
