With how unpredictable 2021 has been, is there even a point in making new year’s resolutions?

Well, let’s talk about why so many people do this every year. When setting new year’s resolutions, we are reflecting about the past year, flipping through our triumphs, failures, dissatisfactions, and lessons. As we catalog these different things, we can then take the things that we are dissatisfied with from the previous year and make plans to change them. Or, we take our successes from the year and plan ways to continue or increase them.

It really is an excellent practice that we should do all year round, taking time for reflection and planning.

We actually have a practice in the ActionCOACH system called BFOs, or “Blinding Flashes of Obvious.” It’s something that we do during team meetings or one-on-one sessions with clients that encourages us to assess the data, facts, or situation presented to us and share key learnings based on what we’ve seen.

It’s a time for reflection and encourages us to come to conclusions that we can use to improve processes and systems within the business.

So naturally, I reflected on 2021 to look for those BFOs, and wow, has it been a crazy year in the business world! Here’s what we saw.

The Importance of In-Person Events

In the era of ZOOM meetings and chat boards that 2020 brought, going back to in-person meetings revitalized those in the business community.

Back in July, we hosted our first in-person 6 Steps to a Better Business Masterclass in-person – our first in over a year! Leading up to it, we were pretty nervous because the state of Indiana had just lifted restrictions and we were worried if people would want to be back in-person. And people showed out! It was a great event with a packed room, great conversation, and participation. We were amazed at the energy of the room and it really showed how much more productive and engaging it is to be face-to-face with other people.

During this time, many companies brought back their team members, who had been working remotely since the start of the pandemic. While remote work can work great for many teams, many that went back in-person noted a rise in productivity and collaboration by bringing employees back to the office.

How Businesses Drive Away Qualified Employees

One of the hot topics of 2021 was “The Great Resignation.” This event saw employees resigning in droves from their positions defining a new age of resistance to poor work-life balance, low living wages, and inflexibility that companies offered.

As a result, many companies struggled to fill key positions within their team, leaving them to scramble to pick up the pieces. Despite the mass resignation of thousands, the reason that many businesses struggled to fill these positions is by adhering to outdated hiring practices. How they were able to attract employees in the past is no longer acceptable to attract the right candidates.

Constant Communication is Key

With still limited face-to-face interaction, many customers have relied on technology even more for purchases and services. We’ve seen a rise in delivery services, online shopping, and online consultations.

One of the biggest pivots we’ve had to make as a business is keeping in constant contact with our customers through email and social media. Many companies have had to migrate over to the digital world and while it hasn’t been easy those who were able to make this transition saw great levels of success.

Moving into 2022

There were tons more BFOs about 2021, but these were the three hot-topic items that we thought were important.

Going into the new year we will most likely see these things continue. So it’s best to prepare for them.

But what are your BFOs from 2021? What greatly impacted your business this year and how will you prepare for next year?

If you have had some realizations from the past year that are cause for improvement but don’t know where to start with a plan of attack, reach out to us. Our certified business coaches are experts at reflections and planning and can be of great help to you.