It’s both reassuring and inspiring to see because I have to believe that with this kind of attitude, we’ll be well positioned to get through Covid-19 in as healthy a shape as possible as a business.
Two weeks ago, I posted a Blog entitled Keep Calm and Carry On which explained that we were going to immediately have all our staff work from home due to the threat of Covid-19. Two weeks already seems an age ago and, in that time, so much has changed. So many of the things that we as human beings take for granted; individual freedoms, the ability to socialise, the right to go to our place of work for example, have been massively curtailed as governments around the world have sought to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on their populations.
And yet, during these dark times, there have been so many points of evidence that give us faith that our future will be OK. In particular, in an increasingly fragmented world, we have seen a huge rebound back to the value of communities. Whether that be individual (and collective) offers of help to others who may be self isolating, to more frivolous (but hey, important!) virtual get-togethers over drinks, we seem to be rediscovering the importance of engaging with and caring for others. Once we exit the Covid-19 crisis, it will be fascinating to see if this trend continues. I very much hope it does.
Furthermore, the last two weeks have also reminded me just how resilient the human spirit is. I’ve been trying to check in regularly with staff across the business and it has struck me how, on the whole, our team has adjusted incredibly well to the change in working style; the ‘new normal’ as someone termed it to me. I got this response from one of our team to the question of how she was coping; ‘Yes, this week I’m feeling myself much more settled than last. The first few days were harder than I expected, but I’ve luckily gotten myself a really good home office environment which is making a huge difference’ It sums up the prevailing mood amongst our people. It’s both reassuring and inspiring to see because I have to believe that with this kind of attitude, we’ll be well positioned to get through Covid-19 in as healthy a shape as possible as a business. Being busy certainly also helps and so far, it appears that the mantra of ‘Business as Usual’ for our clients is continuing to be the case in terms of campaign delivery.
I’m under no illusions that the darkest days of the Covid-19 crisis are ahead of us in societal, professional and personal terms. At the same time, the last two weeks have reassured me that there is enough collective spirit to endure the current challenge and to then get back to a rich and fulfilling existence once we have beaten it. For now, to anyone reading this blog, I hope you stay safe and healthy, and that life, soon, begins to get back to how it was and we can leave this ‘new normal’ behind.