Manager moments: what we learned during lockdown

Posted 4 years ago

It’s safe to say that lockdown posed challenges for pretty much every individual and every business; but although it has been an incredibly challenging period, there have also been many amazing stories of kindness, success, and people coming together to achieve some fantastic and even unthinkable goals. I’m sure that by now you’ve heard the stories about Captain Sir Tom Moore, Marcus Rashford, Clap for Carers, and the Venice Canals, but just in case you haven’t and need a bit of a lift, check out these other positive stories during the coronavirus lockdown.

At iHasco, we’ve been so privileged and incredibly lucky to be able to continue working throughout lockdown and continue to support our clients in these difficult times. Since lockdown, we’ve delivered over 850,000 training sessions – something that was unimaginable back in mid-March. And for this, we cannot thank all of our incredible employees and clients enough for their hard work and continued support, retrospectively, over the past 4 or so months.

A few members of our staff recently sat down with the managers here at iHasco to get their takeaways and thoughts from lockdown…

Aaron Ridout, Head of New Business

Whilst managing a remote sales team presented many challenges, in tough times like these it really pays off to bring the whole team together and allow them get their thoughts across on how we could get the best out of each other. Getting everyone to agree on what success actually looks like to us all is key!

Will Davies, Marketing Manager

I think deep down, whether we’re introverts or extroverts, we’re all social animals and even those who tend to be more introverted will eventually miss that social interaction that we’re all so used to when in an office setting. So for me, regularly making sure I was communicating with my team and wider members of staff was absolutely crucial, even if it wasn’t necessarily work-related, just reaching out to others can make a world of difference and people really do appreciate it. To be honest, I think it’s why we’ve thrived as a whole during lockdown, even though we are technically apart, we’ve managed to stay together!

Lottie Galvin, Studio Manager & Mental Health First Aider

My take from lockdown is how resourceful the team have been when having less access to the usual resources… we have thrived! Less is more, perhaps? We found a way to film presenter footage virtually, we found substitutes for location filming, we discovered the merits of combining creatives on the same project to release high-priority courses in quick time without compromising on quality, we learned how to seamlessly review our programmes virtually as a large group, and we have a new appreciation for the simple things – such as check-ins and communicating with each other. Lockdown has been both humbling and rewarding in that regard, and it’s made us all the more creative, resilient, and resourceful.

Alex Wilkins, Head of Business Development

Lockdown really taught me that life doesn’t always have to be frantic and fast-paced, it taught me how to slow down and take a step back, reflect, and appreciate the present.

Alex Morris, Director

You don’t realise how much you can take things for granted and in hindsight, I took the office and being able to speak to my colleagues face-to-face for granted! We found that remote working can be really effective, but only when you keep up good habits and regular communication!

Amanda Lowndes, Head of Support & Mental Health First Aider

Being thrown into lockdown and having the “normal” day to day contact with friends and colleagues replaced indefinitely with phone and video calls has made me appreciate that while I’m grateful for these things they really aren’t the same as seeing a real human in person and have an actual conversation. It’s tough to read body language on a video call so it’s harder to pick up on how my colleagues are actually feeling. While I may continue to use video calling software in place of some face to face meetings in the future I have gained a real appreciation for in-person encounters. Making more time in my life to be with the people I love and be able to express affection (even if it’s simply a foot bump) will be something I bring forward from this experience. We are stronger when we act together. Cooperation really matters!

Stephen Wellman, Head of Account Management

The importance of being able to solve a problem face to face quickly! Gone are the days of being able to speak to people in a group quickly without having to arrange diaries. Lockdown has made me so much more organised and strict with my time meaning that every meeting we now have means a lot more.