In my business, I rely heavily on technology as most of my work is carried out online. It’s imperative that I have excellent internet connection that I know I can depend upon, and I am a staunch believer in protecting myself and my customers against cyber-attacks. I have invested in the best antivirus software money can buy and I take backups and run virus scans regularly.
Luckily, due to the nature of my business and my relationship with technology, I was well positioned to manage the COVID-19 lock-down. Many organisations, big and small, carried on functioning during the lock-down and many employees found themselves working from home. It became apparent that we could complete our day-to-day work tasks from home just as easily as we would if we had been sitting at our desks in the work office building. Interestingly, many large organisations reported an increase in productivity from their employees during lock-down and are now considering a different business model encouraging their employees to consider working 2 or 3 days a week from home so the organisation can operate smaller ‘satellite’ offices at a lower cost instead of running big office buildings in the heart of the cities.
Speaking from my own experience, I find I can achieve a lot more in a day working in my office at home, then I ever could when I was part of a large organisation and ‘went to work’ every day. Most individuals I’ve spoken to about this found that working from home was achieved so easily with today’s technology. It seems that it's been easier to achieve than everyone thought it would be. This topic has been explored in this Hidden Brain podcast and brings to light some very interesting observations.
The lock-down and the push towards working from home has undoubtedly opened up some good business opportunities for me in my business. It is now widely understood that a secure remote login can be provided by the organisation allowing a contractor (like me) to access only specific systems and data remotely and do whatever work is required. Potential customers are finding the idea of remote working more acceptable now and understand that a successful project is not dependent on the proximity of the consultant’s offices, but more about engaging the best equipped consultant for the job.
Also, with today’s technology, I can maintain excellent communications with my customers. There are many applications I use, depending on my customer’s preferences. For example, we can schedule a video conference meeting when a phone call or email isn’t good enough via Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom - and there are probably more applications just as good as these that serve to ensure everyone involved in the project are working in synchronisation and the projects are progressing as expected and within defined timelines.
The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lock-down has undeniably had an enormous impact on everyone across the world and it has been devastating, but we are fortunate enough to have access to technologies that previous generations caught up in similar pandemics did not have in the past.
I’m so thankful for the social media apps that have helped me stay in touch with my friends and family, and I’m so thankful for the technology that has enabled me to continue on with my business during these difficult and unsettled times. I would love to think that something good will come out of all of this. The situation has provided us with an insight to how we could do business in the future. Some questions I find myself asking is, do we really need to travel to and from a place of work for an hour each way (sometimes more!) every day? Do we really need to continue to consume gallons of petrol, emitting pollution from car exhausts and particulates from car tyres, that not only pollute the air we breath, but the particulates make their way into the world’s oceans causing devastation there too?
We are not doing a very good job at reducing our greenhouse gasses with our current model. A report from Nature showed there was a temporary reduction in daily greenhouse gasses during the initial lockdown - that is huge! Nature-Temporary Reduction in daily greenhouse gasses.
I understand working from home will not suit everyone. I understand that people enjoy the social side of ‘going to work’ and I realise that not every job affords itself to the working from home model, but I can’t help thinking that where we can, shouldn’t we?
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