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COVID Response Center
COVID Response Center

COVID-19 response tools for business leaders

Checklists, articles, and learning sessions to help executives navigate the COVID-19 crisis and the next normal.

Returning to the Workplace | HR | Operations & Supply Chain | IT | Finance | Marketing & Sales

Featured Content

Executive Briefing

COVID-19: Implications for business

– Our latest perspectives on the coronavirus outbreak, the twin threats to lives and livelihoods, and how organizations can prepare for the next normal.
Interactive

Airflow considerations for businesses during the time of COVID-19
See what changes to heating, ventilation, and airflow systems could help limit viral spread in offices, retail stores, and manufacturing facilities.
Webinar

Women in the Workplace 2020: Progress toward gender equality
– This discussion of the sixth annual Women in the Workplace report covers the effects of COVID-19 on US working women and the need for both companies and individuals to help deter women from exiting the workforce.

Returning to the Workplace

Reopening workplaces amid COVID-19: A collection of safety measures
A summary of methods that organizations are using to protect customers and employees from the coronavirus outbreak.

Returning to the workplace: Lessons from essential businesses
– As companies bring workers back to offices and plants, they can learn from organizations that have kept their facilities open during the COVID-19 crisis. This McKinsey Live webinar looks at the most important adjustments for safety in various work environments.
Interactive

Community movement during the pandemic
Shelter-in-place orders have a significant influence on where people spend their time.
Interactive

COVID-19 case tracker
Epidemiological data on the pandemic, with global, country, and local views.
Interactive

Employment impact of COVID-19 across industries and occupations
Up to 57 million jobs are vulnerable, but demand has increased for some job categories.
Interactive

Market valuation of sectors in 2020
Explore changes across global industries.

TOOLS FOR HUMAN-RESOURCES LEADERS

COVID-19 response checklists for CHROs

Three lists of practical ideas for how CHROs can keep employees safe while maintaining productivity and looking for a path to recovery.
Download the checklists

Talent Exchange

Eightfold AI, in partnership with FMI and supported by McKinsey & Company, has built an AI platform to match people to the right jobs in companies that are hiring. Employers can sign up now for Talent Exchange. Individuals can refer their organizations as well.
Sign up for Talent Exchange
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Closing the capability gap in the time of COVID-19
– Building capabilities that durably change workforce behaviors has never been easy, and the pandemic has made it harder. But some organizations have found approaches to thrive in recovery and beyond.
Article

For smarter decisions, empower your employees
– Fully empowered employees make good decisions and resolve problems. We explore how various leadership and management styles can best support them.
Article

HR says talent is crucial for performance—and the pandemic proves it
– Five talent-management practices can help steer organizations through new ways of working and into the post-COVID-19 era.
Article

Sustaining and strengthening inclusion in our new remote environment
– Thoughtful action now can help teams build new habits, strengthen connections, and encourage the growth of inclusive cultures that will better realize the full potential of all employees.
Article

COVID-19 and the employee experience: How leaders can seize the moment
– The return phase of the COVID-19 crisis is a good time for organizations to create more tailored responses to workplace challenges, expanding on the goodwill and camaraderie earned in earlier phases.
Podcast

Fostering employee productivity and morale through COVID-19
– There are several things leaders can do to help safeguard employees’ mental health in these challenging times.
Article

Reimagining the office and work life after COVID-19
– The pandemic has forced the adoption of new ways of working. Organizations must reimagine their work and the role of offices in creating safe, productive, and enjoyable jobs and lives for employees.
Article

Scaling rapid workforce conversion during COVID-19
– Amid crisis disruption or when preparing for the next normal, quickly delivering practical, flexible learning can help shape a business’s recovery profile. Here’s how.

Tools for operations and supply chain leaders

Response tool

Rethinking the consumer goods supply chain in response to COVID-19
A resource for consumer goods leaders to help address the four archetypes of demand change seen during the COVID-19 crisis.

COVID-19 response checklist for supply-chain leaders

Practical solutions to guide supply-chain leaders through all five stages of the crisis-response cycle.
Download the checklist
Article

Agility in the time of COVID-19: Changing your operating model in an age of turbulence
– Can organizations be transformed while employees are working remotely? Four real-life stories suggest that they can.
Podcast

COVID-19 and supply-chain recovery: Planning for the future
– Rarely have supply-chain leaders faced more complex, changing conditions than they have during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s how companies can manage through the crisis and build resilience against future shocks.
Article

COVID-19 crisis: How distributors can emerge stronger than before
– During the current singular crisis, distributors can combine past strategies with new tools to thrive in the next normal.
Article

Five COVID-19 aftershocks reshaping mobility’s future
– The pandemic will change the face of mobility, both now and when the crisis ends.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Ecosystem 2.0: Climbing to the next level
– After a first wave of trials, incumbents are shaking up value chains to attract new ecosystem customers—and tap potentially huge pools of value.
Article

Medtech’s call to action: Meeting the demand surge caused by COVID-19
– Five interventions have helped manufacturers ease supply constraints for medtech products during the pandemic. Important lessons have been learned along the way.
Article

Reimagining procurement for the next normal
– Procurement has led the way out of a crisis before, and can again. But success will mean rethinking every aspect of the function.
Webinar

Building more resilient value chains after the COVID-19
– It’s more important than ever that companies, as well as individual countries, boost the resilience of their value chains.
Article

Industry 4.0: Reimagining manufacturing operations after COVID-19
– Industry 4.0 technologies were already transforming manufacturers’ operations before the pandemic. Now adoption is diverging between technology haves and have-nots.

COVID-19 response checklist for contact centers 

Ideas for leaders on adapting contact-center operations during the first three crisis-response stages.
Download the checklist

TOOLS FOR IT LEADERS

Interactive

Executive’s guide to developing AI at scale

– Developing artificial intelligence and analytics applications typically involves different processes, technology, and talent than those for traditional software solutions. Executives who possess a solid understanding of the basics can ensure they’re making the right investments in their tech stacks and teams to build reliable solutions at scale. We’ve created an interactive guide to help.
Survey

How COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point—and transformed business forever
– A new survey finds that responses to COVID-19 have speeded the adoption of digital technologies by several years—and that many of these changes could be here for the long haul.
Article

Follow the leaders: How governments can combat intensifying cybersecurity risks
– It is undoubtedly challenging to craft and execute a national cybersecurity strategy. Our research reveals common elements of successful strategies.
Webinar

Navigating the impact of COVID-19 on analytics models
– Advanced analytics and AI are invaluable to organizations managing uncertainty in real time, but most predictive models rely on historical patterns. How can companies account for a crisis and get more from their analytics strategy?
Article

Leadership’s role in fixing the analytics models that COVID-19 broke
– COVID-19 has upended life as we knew it, and our new behaviors are wreaking similar havoc on some analytics models that rely on historical data. How can leaders enable teams to get analytics back on track?

COVID-19 response checklist for CIOs and IT leaders

Immediate actions that can help CIOs stabilize core business operations and technology and prepare for recovery.
Download the checklists
Video

How six companies are using technology and data to transform themselves
– In the first of a five-part multimedia series airing on CNBC, we look at how the acceleration of digital during the COVID-19 pandemic is shaping the next normal.
Webinar

Accelerating digital capabilities to recover from the COVID-19 crisis
– The rapid migration to digital technologies driven by the pandemic is likely to continue. This McKinsey Live webinar covers the four elements of a digital agenda for recovery.
Article

The COVID-19 recovery will be digital: A plan for the first 90 days
– The rapid migration to digital technologies driven by the pandemic will continue into the recovery. Here’s how to accelerate your organization’s digital capabilities to keep pace.
Webcast

The CIO moment: Leadership through the second wave of the coronavirus crisis
In this webinar, McKinsey experts discuss how CIOs can support companies’ digitization efforts now that the initial effort to stabilize the core business has largely concluded.

Tools for finance leaders

Interactive

The Tapestry of Financial Attitudes
Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on financial well-being across 11 countries. 
Article

Are scenarios limiting your pandemic recovery strategy?
– Parametric analysis can help finance chiefs expand their views of important variables for planning and decision making.
Article

Moving from cash preservation to cash excellence for the next normal
– Companies can build on their initial response to the pandemic to elevate their cash-management capabilities.
Article

As you return from the summer break, can you lead toward a COVID-Exit?
– Here’s how to set your business on the right track for 2021 and beyond.

COVID-19 response checklist for CFOs

Checklist of actions that CFOs can take to lead through all five phases of the crisis-response cycle.
Download the checklist
Article

Memo to the CFO: A new approach to 2021 budgeting starts now
– The financial-planning process for 2021 presents an opportunity to turn hard-earned lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic into an enduring exercise in linking strategy to value.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly

Why you’ve got to put your portfolio on the move
– We analyzed hundreds of companies, worldwide, across a decade-long business cycle. The conclusion? Winners change their business mix, year after year. Laggards sit still.
Article

No longer on autopilot: Lessons for CFOs from COVID-19
– The CFO must ensure that the financial-management approaches and tools being used to guide their companies through the pandemic stick in the next normal.
Podcast

Financial stress testing: A COVID-19 survival technique for business
– The massive economic shock from COVID-19 has made planning for the next normal increasingly complex. Financial stress testing can bring much-needed clarity.

Tools for marketing and sales leaders

Article

These eight charts show how COVID-19 has changed B2B sales forever
– New analysis makes it clear: For B2B sales, digital is the wave of the future.
Article

US consumer-packaged-goods advertising in the next normal
– The recovery in the United States will be nonlinear and granular. Three marketing capabilities will separate leaders from the pack.
Article

How European marketing-and-sales leaders handle COVID-19’s effects
– To mitigate the financial impacts of the pandemic, executives focus on consumer needs and reorganizing their businesses for the next normal.
Article

Meet the next-normal consumer
– Consumer behavior has changed radically in response to the COVID-19 lockdown. Understanding which changes are likely to stick will help companies plan for the recovery.
Webinar

Five priorities for rapid revenue recovery during COVID-19
– The muscles that companies can build to bring back revenues amid the COVID-19 crisis can also help accelerate growth. This McKinsey Live webinar covers the fundamentals of achieving new levels of speed and agility.
Webinar

How incumbents can build new businesses in response to the COVID-19 crisis
– A crisis tends to produce a wave of innovative companies. This McKinsey webinar looks at the six archetypes that incumbents can use to create new businesses of their own.

COVID-19 Return checklist for B2B marketing leaders

Practical moves for B2B marketing leaders as they initiate the third phase, Return, in the crisis-response cycle.
Download the checklist

COVID-19 response checklist for B2B marketing leaders

Key actions to help B2B marketing leaders navigate through the first two of five stages in the crisis-response cycle, Resolve and Resilience.
Download the checklist
Survey

Survey: Global B2B decision-maker response to COVID-19 crisis
– The next normal of sales: What has changed and how to win

COVID-19 response checklist for B2C marketing leaders

Critical steps through the first two of five stages in the crisis-response cycle, Resolve and Resilience, to help guide B2C marketing leaders.
Download the checklist
Article - Updated with September data

Consumer sentiment and behavior continue to reflect the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis
– As consumers around the globe adjust to the next normal, there is significant variance in consumer sentiment and behaviors across countries.

About McKinsey Live

Join our experts for the latest on navigating beyond the crisis and shaping the next normal that lies ahead.
Register for upcoming live webinars

More Response Tools

For governments
Resources to help government officials navigate the COVID-19 crisis.

For small businesses
Programs supporting small-business owners during the COVID-19 crisis, plus guidelines on reopening.
Learn more

For healthcare providers
Information on sourcing critical goods and materials for responding to COVID-19.

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The contents of this site, including any statements, articles, graphics, charts, checklists, and other materials (“Content”) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or constitute medical advice.