One Month On (or there abouts).

I have never been superstitious, but I might have to change my views. 

On Friday 13th March I left the office, had a beer of two with friends then wandered off home looking forward to an evening out on the Sunday and Monday off from work. 

Little did I know that this would be my last day in the office for some time.

The following week after, Lloyd’s closed the underwriting room, I popped up to the office to pick up some essential materials. 

Leadenhall Street was somewhat eerie…. 

Though someone pointed out that the bus was on time for the first time in ages.

I was told that there was only one other person in the office, doing the same as me, also picking up equipment.

I also dropped into Boots to pick up my prescription, must be the first time I have not had to queue!

One month on I am sitting in my home office probably putting in more hours at my desk than I have done in years. 

We as a firm use the Office 365 suite on a hosted desktop, a decision made 18 months ago and one that is now paying us back in uninterrupted productivity. In recent weeks we have expanded to use MS Teams; at this point I should give a shout out to our technology partner ClevaGroup who have been exceptional in their response to the change in working practices.

One of the interesting outputs of the Office 365 Suite & MS Teams is the MyAnalytics module that has reported back the changes in working practices over the past few weeks. An interesting read but also somewhat concerning. It is worth looking at as it can help you identify what you are doing right and (more importantly) what you are doing wrong.

The first two weeks of “Working From Home” can only be described as manic, it seemed to me that everyone suddenly had the little known business side effect of COVID-19…… “Conference Call Fever”. Back to back calls for days on end. A marked increased in email traffic with a commensurate decrease in phone calls. 

MyAnalytics advised me that I was now spending 60% of my time on calls and emails…this is up from 38% ! More worryingly was that I had gone from interacting on email from 6 hours a day to 14!!!

Back to my earlier point; the application can illustrate to you where you are going wrong and help you in fixing the balance.

I am pleased to say that the novelty seems to be wearing off and normality, or at least some semblance of normality seems to be returning.

So when we take stock, one month on what have we learned?

The Bad

• Many people do not know the difference between “Reply” and “Reply To All”.
• Sitting at a desk for multiple hours ago with limited interaction with “real” people.
• Knee jerk reactions of some parties with a proliferation of exclusions.
• Certain people have dreadful taste in shirts ??
• If a man has half an excuse not to shave……he will take it. I should point out I have had a beard of one description or other for 20 years
• Nobody looks good wearing a headset.
• There are far too many social media apps….Zoom, Houseparty, Facetime, WhatsApp.
• TikTok….enough said !

The Good

• Most firms were better prepared than they probably thought.
• The market (as a whole) has reacted admirably and adapted to continue to serve its’ Clients.
• Most people have finished tidying up their offices meaning that the blurred backgrounds have stopped.
• Electronic Trading works.  Two weeks into “Lockdown” and every PPL record has been broken.
• Discussions are starting as to how many of the “new normal” practices will be taken forward into business as usual.
• Appreciation of the essential services across the Country.

The major difference is that our priorities have changed…a lot. But I have noticed a constant.

People’s sense of humour is un-dented. 

The jokes flying around are, in most cases, entertaining and a shining light in the current atmosphere.

The great thing is that they are international and show a global united front against the situation we find ourselves in. 

This is the point that you would expect me to babble on about the insurance business, but not today.

We have seen the doctors and nurses on the news sharing their experiences and they are (quite rightly) applauded for what they are doing.

However, I thought I would share a few examples of the many workers that most do not think about.

Hospital Administration/Secretarial: Currently sharing offices with the doctors and nurses. Those doctors and nurses are on the wards and thus there is an increased risk of infection to the admin staff who cannot work from home (most of them). 

Not only do they have concerns about their own personal and family welfare they are constantly talking to concerned members of the public, particularly those with serious medical conditions. These calls are cancelling/re-arranging appointments…most people are understanding but……!

Hospital Physiotherapists: Working alongside the doctors and nurses. As we all know breathing is impaired with this virus, physios are very much on the front line working with patients to get their airways and lungs clear. 

Working in the highly infectious areas within the hospitals in a “hands on job; then returning home to their families worried that they are bringing the virus into their own homes.

Funeral Operatives: Not everyone dies in hospital….or for that matter of COVID-19 and related infections. There remains a job to do. 

This is a job where the feelings of the bereaved is paramount, but in the current environment many of the funereal staff are required to wear full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when dealing with the recently bereaved. These hard workers take their job very seriously with care and sympathy; something very difficult to portray when you look like you are preparing for a moon shot.

I would ask people to take a little time to consider others, be they healthcare professionals, delivery drivers, shop workers, childcare, education workers, bus driver, train drivers, bank workers. I would even add call centre workers as they are on the sharp end when dealing with a concerned and sometimes frightened public.

Us, in the insurance industry, can (in many cases) carry on with our working lives. Only impacted by geography and unfamiliar technologies. Many members of our direct and extended families or friends do not have that luxury. Either working with the stress of being a key worker, on furlough or even unable to work; whatever the situation, spare a thought and consider what you can do. 

Look at your business, do you have a kitchen and kitchen staff that can provide meals for those facing difficulties? Did you buy several hundred masks that you no longer need? Is there any valuable equipment sitting in your offices gathering dust?

The other thing we should all do is keep ourselves healthy both physically and mentally. The NHS does not need the extra stress.

Stay well.

James Livett – 14th April 2020