In these uncertain times, strengthening relationships with clients is the one thing front-line bankers can control.

The events of this year transformed banking, for better or worse. Smart bankers will build on the ways they learned to do their jobs better.

Managers have been trained on how to resolve conflicts with customers. They can use that training to minimize intraoffice political squabbling.

Whether it was their nimble shift to digital, or willingness to interact in new ways with customers in branches, bank employees have met head-on the business challenges posed by the outbreak.

Laughter in the workplace helps boost employee morale, something critically needed in 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced some branches to close, but demand for in-person advice remains strong.

Helping their customers adjust to digital banking and pay crushing bills are just a couple of ways community bankers are reaching out.

Digital banking has ramped up during the coronavirus lockdown but customers will seek somewhere to go as cities reopen. A branch could provide that safe haven.

Coronavirus has taken bankers out of their comfort zone. But they should view adaptations they’ve made in confronting the pandemic as a chance to hone their emergency response skills, not a permanent new normal.

Lenders can offer deferred payments and capitalize on digital banking to help small businesses and consumers get back on their feet.