April closes and May begins… and we have been busy bees here at WeDo

Have a read of the attached thoughts from our MD on The Weird Working World of Covid-19 and the lockdown challenges!

Our WEIRD Working World

As we reach the end of one of the craziest months I’ve enjoyed or endured in my
working life, reflection seems to be appropriate!

We have been busy bees trying to keep our hive buzzing and experiencing some of
the same challenges as our clients.

• How to stay busy?
• How to stay in touch?
• Are we looking after our clients?
• Are our clients struggling and isolated with their challenges?
• How do we protect our own business?
• What is the rest of “our” working world doing?
• When will we see “normal” again?
• Will the new “normal” be significantly different?

Other ones might include:

• How to have a video call with lots of people?
• How to work with the kids/dog/TV noisily in the background?
• Do I simply wear shorts and T-shirt as the new norm!!?
• What time is it appropriate to have a glass of wine!

Probably similar questions to what many of you may be thinking about and whilst this
list is far from exhaustive, I suspect that the answers to all of these will vary and be
personal to you/your business as no one really has all of the answers at this stage.
We watch daily the updates on where the world is, what changes we will face
tomorrow, how these challenges are impacting on everyday life for so many of us
and we sadly see those unfortunate to watch helplessly as their jobs fall from
beneath them or worse, someone close to them is struck down by Covid-19. These
unparalleled circumstances have thrown the world into temporary chaos so what do
we do?

We can all only control certain things…

• I cannot control the weather
• Government actions Some companies failing
• Actions of others perhaps

Therefore it is a wasted emotion to worry about those things and allow them to affect
my own mood, my own thoughts and how we as a business think each day. We have
used a simple philosophy throughout the month of trying to do a few simple things: –

Staying consistent with – our decision making processes, our mood and
attitude, our desire to communicate and stay in touch despite WFH.

Transparency – explain everything clearer, do what we say we are going to
do, no hidden fees, deductions or adding to our clients challenges.

Empathy – try to understand that what is happening is happening to everyone,
but may affect other people and other businesses in different ways. Therefore
take time to understand each set of circumstances for each individual
challenge. Good listening, helpful advice where possible but just trying to
understand is sometimes enough.

We have also tried to apply this consistency to our approach for new business. We
have not been able to chase around the market looking for opportunities, but word of
mouth, doing a good job and listening to try and understand what is needed, has
helped us secure 5 new clients for April with recruitment, driving sector and food
manufacturer amongst those now partnering with WeDo.

When we set WeDo up, one of the words that the team chose to put on our office
mood board to illustrate our business and values was Empathy and throughout April,
I think we have lived this value brilliantly and would not hesitate in asking any of our
clients for their opinion on this! We don’t often sing our own praise but I think the
team have been brilliant this month in particular…

So as we end April and enter May, what do we know now through our learning?
Being in isolation presents challenges at all levels, but overcoming those challenges
is what helps us all grow, learn and hopefully become better. Working together can
be achieved remotely, making the effort to communication clearly, take the time to
listen and understand before rushing to act; and a little empathy can go a long way in
helping people, businesses and yourself.

As we enter into May, we hope for some positive news to take us back towards
“normal”, back towards our friends and family and hopefully further away from the
challenges we have all faced for the last 6 or 7 weeks.

Stay safe, stay positive and if you just want to talk, we may be able to help you with
that too!