. 2022 Aug 31;9(4):24.

Table 3.

An Overview of Enablers and Challenges Related to COG-UK's Ability to Adapt to Unpredictable Conditions Associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic

Influence: The Ability to Respond to the Urgent and Unpredictable Nature of the Pandemic
COG-UK members’ readiness to adapt the extent of their focus on research versus routine sequencing activity was vital to COG-UK's role in informing public health decision making and policy. Though not without challenges, the financial resources, leadership and management ability that allowed COG-UK to rapidly bolster human-resource capacity and onboard sequencing sites underpinned COG-UK's timeliness, relevance and impact in a rapidly changing public health landscape. The urgency of the pandemic challenge focused attention on the most pressing short-term needs and mobilised support, goodwill and trust with minimal bureaucracy. The novelty and experimental nature of COG-UK was conducive to agility and adaptiveness, allowing for a degree of innovation and experimentation related to governance and management approaches, and minimising bureaucracy	The consortium's constant flux as new people joined required a consistent focus on onboarding but also presented occasional challenges to maintaining effective communication and added to time demands on key staff. COG-UK's fire-fighting mode of operating was taxing on staff and unlikely to be sustainable for the longer term. This is an important consideration for COG-UK's future and longer-term resourcing.

Influence: The Ability to Respond to the Urgent and Unpredictable Nature of the Pandemic

Key Enablers

Key Challenges

COG-UK members’ readiness to adapt the extent of their focus on research versus routine sequencing activity was vital to COG-UK's role in informing public health decision making and policy.
Though not without challenges, the financial resources, leadership and management ability that allowed COG-UK to rapidly bolster human-resource capacity and onboard sequencing sites underpinned COG-UK's timeliness, relevance and impact in a rapidly changing public health landscape.
The urgency of the pandemic challenge focused attention on the most pressing short-term needs and mobilised support, goodwill and trust with minimal bureaucracy.
The novelty and experimental nature of COG-UK was conducive to agility and adaptiveness, allowing for a degree of innovation and experimentation related to governance and management approaches, and minimising bureaucracy

The consortium's constant flux as new people joined required a consistent focus on onboarding but also presented occasional challenges to maintaining effective communication and added to time demands on key staff.
COG-UK's fire-fighting mode of operating was taxing on staff and unlikely to be sustainable for the longer term. This is an important consideration for COG-UK's future and longer-term resourcing.