TRIAD’s Response to COVID-19

April 24, 2020

I love the quote above.  Today it has more meaning than it did when I first read those words.  Our Strategic Business Team had finished our annual company meeting in mid-February and planned our next 12 months.  Not a single person on that team even considered the scale of disruption that COVID-19 would have on our families and communities, let alone the business world.  We talked about the potential economic slowdown after a decade of substantial growth.  We may have even discussed the political impacts given a presidential election year.  But I am certain a global pandemic was not on the discussion board.

We have spent the last 18 months redefining our firm around why we do business.  We focused on our values; we built efficient processes that are core to our firm; we built an organizational structure with clear accountability.  By doing this when the times were over-achieving expectations every year, we were prepared to adapt when the times changed drastically.  We have built a team that can “thrive and grow in a world of rapid change and unpredictability.”

The Entrepreneurial Operations System, or EOS, provided us the tools and framework in which to evolve TRIAD Architects from the company we were, to the company we endeavored to become.  Our Vision became the centerpiece of the firm’s focus and discipline.  Our team understands the importance of our investment and continues to stay the course without compromise to that Vision.  The tools of EOS that helped us define and grow our firm, are helping us now navigate the daily challenges of the pandemic.

We transitioned our company to full remote working; we expanded our sick time policy; we modified our technology infrastructure, and we acclimated our team to alternative communication methods.  We did this as a firm over a weekend and nearly 8 days before the Ohio “Stay at Home” order took place.  We were prepared to make strategic decisions, provide clear direction to our team, and enact policy changes.  We did this because we ultimately had taken the steps 18 months ago to handle times like these, we just didn’t know the full power of those steps until now.

These tools and processes that helped us effectively react to the workplace change in March will be the same tools and processes that help us reinvent and shape our transitioning workspace and workforce.  That clarity, that sense of vision, will remain in focus as we consider our associates, our clients, our communities, and our families.  Developing an agile workplace through new investments in technology, staff training, and refinement of how we interact on all levels of our business must continue to allow effective adaptability when things beyond our control occur because our approach is clear, the right people are accountable, and communication is open and honest.  What we left behind in March, and what waits for us in May, we are certain our goals and aspirations will remain unchanged.