60 seconds with Michael Jayson

Michael Jayson, Partner - Managing Partner of our Manchester office, gives us some insight in to his new working life at home.

3 facts about Michael...

• I play the Euphonium and used to play in the Liverpool Wind Orchestra.
• I am a genuine Scouser and once nearly helped a group of football fans buy Liverpool Football Club.
• I once had to rescue my son after he got his head stuck in the railings at Buckingham Palace.

How used to working at home are you?

The only time I have ever worked from home before for more than a day was recovering from a minor operation on my knee. However, I could certainly get used to not having commute into the office.

What is your home-working set-up like?

As I have two children at home from University who are studying and a daughter doing online school working there isn’t a great deal of space and they have taken over our spare bedroom office. Since ‘lockdown’, I have commandeered the dining room and lock myself away, working on the dining room table where I can spread out.

What practices work well for you that you think might work well for others?

Just before lockdown, someone I used to work with, who is now at a private equity firm, recommended the book “Getting things done – the art of stress-free productivity”. I am really glad I had read this as it gives some great guidance on focussing.  - When you really need to focus on something it is good to turn your ‘skype for business’ to ‘do not disturb’.

How do you stay positive, motivated and productive in such an environment?

We have a great team at Crowe so it is not hard to stay focused and motivated just by speaking to others. Our whole team have a clear objective of delivering quality work to our clients in all areas and this goal always helps others keep this at the forefront.

What routines do you practice that help to keep you in the right frame of mind for the working day?

As I need to flexible to client needs, it is hard to stay in too much of a routine during the working day. The main thing that is consistent however are my working times and having a fixed time to log-off every day.

During this time, what would you say has been the biggest challenge for you?

The biggest challenges were all around been the initial adjustment to working remotely and not physically being around the team. This meant much more video conferencing using SFB and Zoom to compensate for the level of face-to-face communication that I am used to having.

How have the services that you offer to clients changed/ adapted during this crisis?

Covid-19 has impacted both the services we are offering to clients and how we deliver to them. We have been supporting our clients through the various areas of government support such as CJRS and CBILS with a key aim of aim to simplify the complex. The team has tried to bring insights to our clients not only around the options open to them now but trying to look forward to what the next year may look like and how to best to plan any uncertainties ahead.

Thankfully, the vast majority of our work has continued to be delivered remotely using a mix of Cloud based software, highly secure data transfer of files and a mix of video/telephone conferencing. I am really proud of the way our teams have adapted to this way of working and what was initially quote a shock to the system, has proved it can be a more efficient process if planned carefully and executed well. This approach has meant that our clients have experienced a seamless process and continued to receive a quality service.

What are your top tips for others working from home?

• If you are like me, no matter how good your intentions are quite often you try to plan your day but new requests come in from clients via calls and emails which completely change your plans. I also often have back-to-back meetings and there are just not enough hours in the day. All of this makes these three things really important.
• Setting aside time to plan. Planning is more important than ever in this environment.
• Focus on actions and outcomes rather than inputs.  
• Having a weekly review of all ongoing assignments I have found to be really valuable. It builds in time to re-evaluate and capture what I need to focus on.

What stories or experiences can you share (good or bad!) about working from home?

The strangest experience was probably discussing a second partner review on an audit file with another Partner while he was busy doing some serious gardening and hacking away at a bush at the same time.