In our latest blog article, Ewan Stewart, Head of Customer Development at Escone, explores shifting work practices and uncovers how our culture has changed for the better.
Adapting to rapid change is something we have all had to get used to as we’ve learnt to roll with the punches that the pandemic has brought to our business.
The cliched office chat at the water cooler and popping the kettle on at coffee time is not what it used to be as we swapped our offices for makeshift work-stations in our homes.
But, in spite of the many changes, lockdown has taught us some valuable lessons and has opened our minds to new ways of learning and working.
If you can cast your mind back to the early days of the first lockdown (without grimacing too much!) we had already begun reacting quickly by switching to a remote working model in a bid to ensure the safety of our people.
For some of us though, the need to be in the office was essential so, again we adapted, and split the team to ensure smaller clusters of people in the office on any given week. Changing up our internal processes to conduct team meetings via video calls opened up more opportunities for brainstorming which meant we (ironically!) became even more ‘connected’.
We worked as always at the top of our game and constantly reviewed how to continue delivering a first-class service to our client base to ensure continuity.
So, what challenges did we face?
Of course, it wasn’t all plain sailing. With other companies also remote working, we experienced a marked increase in helpdesk tickets to tackle issues such as lost connectivity, locked records and password problems. The initial teething problems of remote working were evident from both our side and from our clients and we were doing our best to navigate through it all without a roadmap. Our helpdesk team found they were hitting a brick wall of switchboards and answering machines due to phones and offices being unmanned.
How did we turn these challenges into positives?
Our number one priority was maintaining the same high standard of service for our clients.
Thanks to video calls, we were able to put faces to the names of clients, resulting in even more of a personal touch. As our team settled into the rhythm of working from home and the benefits of less commuting time, lockdown didn’t seem so bad, yet, for some, it came at an incredibly crucial time in terms of life and work experience. Some of our younger personalities were suddenly thrust into an isolated world where their only experience of ‘office life’ was spent propped behind a screen and meeting with colleagues via webcam.
Meet Jodie Donald
Our Support Lead Jodie Donald was just 18 years old in March 2020 when the entire UK workforce was ordered to work from home. Despite the surreal situation, Jodie has continued to thrive and has demonstrated her ability to deal with anything life throws at her.
I spoke to Jodie recently and asked her to think back to those months she spent working from home and how she coped with being isolated from others.
“It was crazy at times if I’m honest, but then I think about how I learnt to deal with uncertainty by staying busy to give me a sense of routine and purpose,” said Jodie.
“When we were eventually allowed to go back in the office it was a great spirit lifter to see everyone again.”
I also wanted to get the perspective of Sam Michie, our Support Analyst at Escone, who works closely with Jodie. Sam believes our communication as a team has improved immensely and the time away has given us all a chance to take a step back and look closer at further improvements to benefit our clients.
“We have been able to re-think how we do things,” said Sam. “We have more time for analysis and reviews of our helpdesk processes to implement change for the better.”
Our improved efficiencies are filtering through to our clients as they experience a superior level of service and customer care.
Tough roads often lead to great destinations – and that couldn’t be more true for us at Escone.
Our dedicated team who are willing to work together at all costs no matter the circumstances is what makes our helpdesk what it is and we are excited to see what the future holds….but first, let’s get the kettle on for that team cuppa!
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