Given this unprecedented situation of social distancing and lockdowns, I’m sure all of us are trying to make the best of what we have! WFH and makeshift conditions are not pretty, or smooth. From jockeying for internet bandwidth at home with your spouse and kids to tweaking of the regular workflow, to the need for bolstering morale and organizational pride in your team, the challenges are varied.
I would like to share with you a couple of challenges we faced in the past couple of days and how we addressed these.
- With the IT Support personnel working from home too, the employees did not know which IT support staff he/she has to contact at a given point in time since the shifts and specialties were now only virtual and not physically accessible to the rest of the staff. As a result of a productive brainstorming session, the IT and Technology teams came up with the idea of creating a new tab in our Intranet portal that displays the IT Support engineers who are on duty along with their contact numbers and email IDs. This helped us address the problem in no time.
- In another instance, one of our critical resources was provided with a desktop at home, however, the internet connectivity for his area was very poor. The IT, Production and Information Security teams got together to come out with a solution. We decided to get a new SIM card and use the high-speed mobile data as a hotspot to connect. So far this plan is working out great!
Creativity in Action!
One crucial problem that was looming large was what happens to the server in case of power shut down. The server has a backup of 45 minutes and it’s crucial to switch on the generator within this time frame. In the work from home context, how do we know when the power is off! And who will switch on the generator?
But lo and behold! The thinking caps were on in a jiffy and Thomas Edison’s bulb lit up -both literally and figuratively! We came up with the idea of organizing a bulb in front of the CCTV camera (monitored continuously by the IT engineers). The moment the power is off the bulb would lit up and the IT engineer would alert our in-house electrician to switch the generator on. A room has been arranged for the electrician in close proximity to the office enabling him to have easy access during such emergencies.
This temporary phase is also weaving beautiful stories of collaboration and overcoming challenges!
There can never be a lockdown for imagination and innovation!
Signing off with this positive note…”The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment – Tony Robbins”
Regards,
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
