#21-day plan : ‘Time to build empathy, imagination & creativity’: Ashateet Saran

First, I see this phase as more of an opportunity to utilize the precious resource called time. It's a rare phase where time is available in abundance. So it’s best utilized by reflecting and introspecting on how we have been operating, where we need to improve ourselves and also on how as a team we can be market-ready.

So, we have started our Hangout meets and have scheduled a session called Open House every day at 10 am to talk about where we take our projects and discuss projects that have inspired us. So, it’s a learning time for us.

Secondly, it’s time to reset our axis and recalibrate our overheads and costs. I have personally never looked into these aspects at a deep level. Cost of operations has also to be looked into during these market conditions, not only our cost but also the overall cost of doing a project for a client. We have to look at things like how do we efficiently manage the project cost by maximizing resource and vendor management. So, it’s about cost management.

Third, it’s about building deeper personal relationships with our associates, vendors and clients. Empathy is what the world needs now, so we have to be there for each other during these testing times. Caring for them and telling them that we are your circle of safety is very important. Projects will start sooner or later, the market will rise, everything will fall in place but before that, we need to empathize with all our stakeholders.

And fourth is about relaxing and keep the creative flow going by working from home and giving that extra time to our existing projects, and also use a powerful tool called visualisation - imagining how we can create stores of the future.

Finally, meditate, read a book, stay fit, and do what you wanted to do (obviously at home). Be responsible and creative about how we use our time.