Our Covid Diary Week 2: Lockdown

Monday 23rd March: Ditch the airs and graces

It's the first day of Lockdown proper and I fully expected the scheduled call with a new potential member law firm to be cancelled. But no, clearly everyone has plenty of free time in their diary as it goes ahead. All began well - the Head of D&I who'd arranged the call was in Leeds and had seen me speak at the SmartWorks event there recently.

She explained that "Jane" was on the line in London.

“And what’s your role Jane?” I asked politely, expecting her to explain she was in HR/Recruitment.

“I’m the Managing Partner of the London office and Global Head of .....”

I was mortified. Even though it was a call rather than a meeting, I really should have done my homework, though to be fair I couldn't see Jane on the calendar invitation. Expected to be on the back foot from then on until Jane said:

“Excuse me while I go onto mute now, I’m about to eat my lunch. It’s Weetabix and it might be a bit noisy”

So that's that. No airs and graces. Waste of time, just cut to the chase. Great call, even though the firm is unlikely to join until we are through this. (Note to self: it's still worth doing your homework, even if the client is on the other end of a telephone eating Weetabix in the middle of the day).

Tuesday 24th March: Back down to earth with a bump

Now we're in lockdown, I found myself exactly where I was last Monday. Ready to shut up shop. I even pressed "Confirm" on my order of the Mirror and the Light. Going to have plenty of time for reading as we ain't going to be doing any recruiting. Even a walk in the park couldn't cheer me up.

And then we had our lovely, motivating, no giving up, stay positive, team meeting.  Tanja, whose positivity, enthusiasm and generally bubbliness is infectious (mmm poor choice of words there ...) gave us the fillip we needed. Her husband is a lawyer and though she's perhaps not delighted to have him working from home, it means she has some inside information. He's never been so busy!

Run off their feet lawyers is exactly what we need because we have plenty of lawyers who'd love to be busier. We know some of our candidates are absolutely raring to go and, what's more are all set up to work from home. We had considered potentially moving into the short term, contracting or interim business in a year or two. Perhaps we should be a bit more agile.

We agreed to make a list of who's ready to go so that we could pounce on any opportunities to make the relevant introductions. Agile, flexible, speedy, responsive, innovative, creative, that's us.

And then I lost connection. With two teenage children doing remote learning, and my partner also on Zoom (to China of all places), there seems to be a limit to how many connections our broadband can sustain. Now there's something new to argue about.

Time for a walk in the park.

Wednesday 25th March: Progress of sorts

My dad turned 81 today and I wasn't there. Well, not in person, though we did manage a good long chat. How much he heard I'm not sure. My mum seems to have got the message that she is NOT allowed to go to the supermarket, at the tenth time of trying.

Small mercies. Walk in the park with the dog was invigorating; cleaning the bathroom was therapeutic (though it's a therapy I could honestly do without); and in other news Virgin Management announced it would penalise any law firms with no women on the team. Grist to the mill .... we do have a future.

One new client signed their contract, with the proviso that start dates could be shifted back beyond September (of course they can) and another has been extremely kind and sensitive to the needs of one of our associates who's a single mum with young children. Feel warm inside. We may have no income but we have a purpose.

The NHS asks for volunteers. We all leap at the opportunity.

Evening dog walk in the park feeling more positive than yesterday.

Thursday 26th March: Less of a roller coaster, more of a see-saw

They've closed the park. Now that's a real downer.

I discovered Houseparty. That gave me a lift. It's hilarious. My 18 year old tells me she and all her mates used to use it in year 7 but are back on it now. She thinks it's highly amusing that a bunch of 40 and 50 year olds think it's something that only they know about and have recently discovered. I don't care.

And then, through the wonders of Houseparty, I realised how grey my roots are. Disaster. Back down again.

Just as I thought I'd end the day on a low, Tanja - she of all the positivity and bubbliness - gave me a call. One of our candidates had an interview. A real, proper interview. Over Skype but a real interview with a real client and they hit it off. She may even be offered a job!!! Up up up again.

We all stand on the steps of our houses at 8pm and say thank you to the NHS. It feels like a very small effort for such a huge undertaking by so many people. And it's fab.

Friday 27th March: It's going to be a long haul

I call my mum first thing.

"Do you think it's OK to go to Aldi?"

On what planet does going to Aldi not count as "going out of the house".

"No mum, because you're 80 and dad's 81 and the Government have asked you to stay at home for your own safety and several people have offered to do your shopping for you ....You are just going to have to be a little bit patient for a few more weeks."

Bless her I certainly hope it's only for a few more weeks but who knows.

We had a team Zoom meeting, with much of the time spent discussing what colour we all are (see "Surrounded by Idiots in last week's diary). Tanja was quiet - might be coming down with something, Melinda thinks she's red but, true to form, was at least 5 minutes late joining because she was on her way back from the shop and then managed to join on two devices at once (she's yellow).

Sharon got us all back on track by making sure we at least spent some time talking about clients and candidates and Steph just couldn't wait for it all to be over because, apparently, wine o'clock begins at 4 on a Friday!! I suspect this is only in Covid19 times but hey, who knows.

At any rate, I make it almost 6 o'clock so I'm off.

Stay sane and safe people.

Here's a recommendation for you. It's 1922 and Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to spend the rest of his life living in the attic of a luxury Moscow hotel.

He's there for the next 30 years (and we're worried about 12 weeks). No space to say more, except that it's absolutely tremendous, life affirming and joyous.