Today marks the end of the first week at Passle with the whole business working remotely and I thought it would be helpful to share what I've learnt as the Head of People here at Passle. In pre-Coronavirus times, I have been accustomed to splitting my time in both of our offices each week and engaging in person with all of our people. So it's been a very different week, adjusting to how we now work for the foreseeable future. 

Here are a couple of observations and tips that I've noted this week.

1) Using Video. This isn't something we've done a lot in the past at Passle because we are generally under the same roof as our team, so we've all been learning about each other's surroundings that is our new office, and how to communicate with each other and our clients in this different way. 

2) Motivation. Our days start and end with a 'scrum' style meeting. We talk about what we did yesterday, what we're doing today and any blockers. This engages us first thing and sets us on the right track.

3) Be Helpful. The core message from our Founders. Be helpful to our clients and understand that Passle is not the most important thing occurring in their daily lives.We respect when other things take priority.

3) School's Out. A healthy proportion of our team have children and they are now going to be at home. Not only does this mean that it could be a potential disruptor to the adults doing their work, but for these children their lives are changing too. So we're making sure we're supporting our parents in whatever way we can.

4) Coffee Time. Our team are used to working next to each other and grabbing a coffee and chat whenever they need to discuss things. We are making sure we continue to engage through video calls and virtual coffee sessions.

5) Learning and Development. Working side by side means that the teams absorb information from each other on a daily basis. We're making sure that we continue to exchange ways of working and new things. 

6) Keeping in the loop Being in close proximity means that we often only have to turn our chair to find out something important about a client or a prospect. Now more than ever our hygiene when it comes to updating our CRM and sensitivity towards GDPR regulation is critical to the efficiency of how we do business.

7) Empathy. And finally, possibly the most important thing in this difficult and ever changing time is understanding others and putting ourselves in others' shoes. As we are told daily, we are taking these unprecedented measures to protect the vulnerable in our society. It's always important to remember that we don't know how someone else is managing challenges in this situation we find ourselves in. 

This week was all about making sure we can do our jobs and settle into doing this from home. Next week onwards this is going to start to feel the new normal, and it's the People leader's role to make sure morale is kept high, so we can continue to be efficient and effective, at a distance from each other and our clients. Tune in for my update next Friday!