The business cycle is a natural rise and fall of economic growth that occurs over time typically distinguished by four phases - expansion, peak, contraction and trough. On a national level these stages are often gauged by quarterly GDP growth rates and manipulated by fiscal policy but they can often be rocked by the impact of local, regional or global events - like the current corona virus situation in Asia.
While the impacts on day-to-day life for most people living in the region are readily felt, from travel restrictions to personal hygiene routines, global stock markets initially saw little ill effect - rallying strongly after news of the virus was initially shared. But there’s no doubt - whether the global economy faces a major impact from supply chain disruptions or other knock on effects, certain industries are already being hit and hit heavily - in particular travel, tourism, hospitality and our own sandbox, the MICE sector.
Seizing the opportunity of time
With regional and international business events in Asia postponing left, right and centre, we find ourselves faced with a choice like many in these hardest hit industries… Continue, as if nothing has happened although business is at a fraction of normal levels; downsize & reduce head count to survive - OR - treat the situation as an opportunity to invest the time we would never normally have in improving our products and systems and most importantly in developing our TEAM to be even better equipped for the “MICE revival” after corona…
Seizing the opportunity to share insights
We are also seizing the opportunity to share insights, best practice and seek solutions with event partners facing the same challenges - from fellow team-builders in the Catalyst Global network to the conference planners, DMCs and venue partners we work with on a regular basis. And we notice, while regional events may be down, many of the hotels we work with are also seeing the opportunity to conduct their own training and development initiatives that might normally be a challenge to schedule.
In support of this we are offering our highly tailored workshops - designed especially for the hospitality sector - at very special rates during this period. With senior team workshops for excom members covering areas such as strategic planning, empathetic leadership and learning agility, to supervisor level programs on communication, collaboration and alignment, these one-day trainings help build resilience, boost morale and develop the skills required for a hospitality team to thrive not just survive through the downturn.
We use gamification in designing so many of our workshop activities, so it’s no surprise that I see the world in terms of games or sports metaphors. Like many of our partners in the MICE and hospitality sectors, I accept the current coronavirus crisis as a forced break in our “match season”. And as any good coach knows, you don’t send your players home to sit on the couch eating potato chips - you train, and train hard if you want to make the of most of the off-season to come back as winners…!
Read more about our training workshops!
