Looking for Positives During a Crisis

A global pandemic and mandatory lockdown were hardly in anyone’s plans this year, and subsequently we’ve all been forced to change the way we work, the way we live and the way we do business. 

Like many others, we were wholly unsure of how the pandemic would affect us. We’ve now had time to adjust, and have taken a look back over the past 8 weeks to find some positives during what has been such a challenging time.

Business Challenges

There have been many changes across the economy over the past 8 weeks. Businesses who previously didn’t allow their employees to work from home, are now solely reliant on it, people who previously had invested in bricks and mortar shops have moved online - and just a quick look on social media will show you some of the innovative ways businesses who rely on human contact have adapted;

• Nail Salons are now selling stick on gel/acrylic nails whilst salons are closed
• Hairdressers are making tailored hair colouring kits for their customers to do at home,
• Personal Trainers are doing online classes via Zoom,
• Restaurants & Bars are offering contact free meal & cocktail deliveries

When the lockdown first came into effect, we began by speaking with our clients to find out how their businesses had been / could be affected by Covid19, and began working with them to create new and innovative campaigns for their businesses.

We’ve had clients invest in technology to screen temperatures to supply to doctors, schools and nursing homes.

One of our clients (alcohol supplier) has invested in a new website offering local booze deliveries around their warehouse.

Property Circle - One of our clients who was in the middle of developing an app for rental investors managed to quickly change trajectory, and modify the app to provide help and information to people who needed rental/mortgage advice during the crisis.

The ingenuity displayed by some of our clients throughout this period has been nothing short of amazing, and we are wholeheartedly grateful for their continued support especially through these challenging times.

Remote Working

We recently took part in a survey of over 200 Digital Agencies, which looked to find out how the crisis had affected businesses, but also how it had changed perceptions on remote working.

73% of digital agencies found it relatively easy to move to home working

62% of digital agencies found it enabled more trust and freedom with their team

41% reported a better work/life balance

75% of agencies would consider increasing the opportunity for staff to work remotely when the offices are back open

With Statuo being a digital agency, a lot of our processes and softwares lent themselves to remote working, however it wasn’t something we actively did before the pandemic. We did find the move to remote working pretty seamless.

To follow up from the research done by Deazy - We asked a few members of our team about their working from home experience, and if they’d like to see anything about the way we've been working recently implemented when the world returns to normal.

Adam - General Manager

“I was dreading working from home at the beginning, it wasn’t due to not being prepared or not having the systems in place to work from home, it was because I have a 9 month old… and knew that it was going to be difficult to focus with all the distractions and noises!

My worries were quickly diffused when I realised that there were more distractions and noises at work due to the busy working environment of a digital marketing agency, I now have more quiet time, more time to think, plan & strategise plus I also get to see my beautiful daughter grow up which I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do without the pandemic.

There are always going to be pros and cons whichever way you look at it but I think a mixture of working from home & the office is ideal, if anything it could help productivity & efficiency based on the type of work required for that day”

Emillie - Designer

“Working from home isn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but there have been both pro’s and con’s. Luckily for me the workload hasn’t stopped, so I’ve been able to keep busy, and it has kept my mind off everything that’s going on.

Surprisingly, I have found it easier to focus at home due to less distractions, however I miss being in a fun office environment. Being in the office, it’s easier to communicate with colleagues and get design feedback quickly, also having people to bounce ideas off with makes the design process a lot stronger. For me, working from home has been 50/50, it hasn’t affected how I work or the designs I produce, but I do miss social interaction and brainstorming with my colleagues. I would consider working from home in the future, but only on the days I feel I need to focus on designs in my own space, and not 5 days a week”

Joe - Front End Developer

It’s great for working on project work ie. websites, design, videos as you can get in your own headspace without interruption or distractions. Great for time management - far easier to get into a routine and make sure were doing what we are supposed to without distractions in the office. If there's a technical error or problem its for a single person not for the entire office, ie. internet going down, coffee machine cleaning, firewalls

I do find it less productive in terms of collaborating on work and bouncing ideas around & planning.

It’s easier to forget to keep people updated or get updated yourself on other people's work or where we are up to on things.

I'd definitely like to work from home in future for in-depth project work, but it's essential to be in the office for planning and ideation sessions.

To summarise the positives we have seen come from this crisis;

1. Work/Life Balance - It has allowed us all to slow down a little bit, sit back and focus more on the tasks in hand, giving us the ability to not only be more efficient but more relaxed whilst doing so & this has improved staff morale, attention to detail & productivity. It has also allowed us as a company to focus on the most important part of the service we provide, which are the results & final product!, so the new norm for us is doing more ‘good work’ instead of doing ‘busy work’.
2. Comfort Zone - It has forced not only us but many businesses out of their comfort zone, finally completing the ‘We need to look into this soon’ task’s that have been lingering around for years, whether that's finally making the move online or getting that new e-com site to help surpass the previous years performance, letting employees work from home or even in some cases completely changing their business model to suit the environment they are now in.

Businesses have been forced to adapt, evolve, grow and many with great success, the recent epidemic has had a terrible impact on some businesses & individuals who may never recover which is awful, however it's encouraging to see that there are some silver linings for those who manage to make it to the other side & we hope that we can help as many of our current & potential customers through.

It won’t be long until it's over, and we’re all back to the office, back to the commute and back to the pub on a Friday. However, I sincerely hope that some of the positive side-effects of lockdown continue long after the virus is gone.

That said, with the future currently still a little uncertain, if there’s anything we can help you with to get your business online, don’t hesitate to get in touch.