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Prepare at home for the new postCOVID-19 dawn Leveraging technology to enable teams to prepare for the future

@compleatp2p

Neil Robertson, Executive Chairman, Compleat Software

Neil is the Executive Chairman of Compleat Software, having previously held the role of CEO at Compleat since April 2008. A 40+ year veteran of the accounting software industry, Neil has a long track record of building and growing global finance application businesses and with new disruptive technologies bringing these to market.

Neil Robertson has steered many organisations through difficult periods and uses his experience to highlight the help that is available to navigate the current difficult times with minimal disruption.

There are now glimmers

of light on the horizon as we slowly start to exit lockdown and each and every business is hard at work making plans for the brave new world that awaits us which may or may not include repeated further restrictions as our economies reset to sustainable future levels.

In the immediate future, much of global senior managements’ focus is either on how and when they will be able to re-open their businesses for trading and for all of us, it’s planning how we reopen our offices, shops and hospitality venues whilst addressing social distancing. Equally, how we cope with the likelihood of further lockdowns either locally, regionally or nationally will be challenging and foremost in all of our contingency planning.

There is also the challenge of working with our employees to aid their return to the workplace. Each individual is different as the level of vulnerability to COVID-19 is not just dependent on them as an individual, but also those they live with.

Also, whilst social separation at the offices has its challenges – managing who is going to be in off the only alternative) when each day, where they will sit and working from home is a viable how you can sanitise every desk option with a little investment? each evening – there is also the issue of who will be prepared to Technology has enabled remote travel in. communications during lockdown, with connectivity to every home There is, understandably, a high office, dining room table and level of concern from those that sofa now a standard fixture of have to use public transport team interaction (trains and the tube in using the now particular) to get to To retain talent, ubiquitous online work. For anyone that commutes this way, every business must video conferencing. Virtually all business we know it can be include the option functions that densely populated for staff to work from involve recordand, for most people, home. keeping and this represents too communication can much of a risk to even now be carried out online contemplate. It is equally hard and for small investments per to see how this will change in the employee. foreseeable future until there is a vaccine or infection levels have We often consider that not being declined substantially.

Working from home post-COVID-19

In this new world order, for businesses to be fully operational, working from home is going to be essential for some time to come. What employer wants to be held up to the social media spotlight by forcing vulnerable staff to risk their lives (or those of the loved ones they are living with) by demanding office attendance (with being laid

able to monitor employees at their desks as being damaging to productivity, however, for staff that have been working from home over the past months – with no lapse in their business’ operations – the experience has changed opinions. Many staff have concluded that it is a far better lifestyle. It gives back all of the time commuting in favour of more enjoyable activities, saves a fortune in fares, is less stressful, they are less tired at the end of day and for a significant number of them, it actually increases their productivity. That is not to say that they never want to go to an office, but they do want the choice of when and why they do it. Technology gives that choice to every organisation and every employee. Most businesses are battening

Looking to the future, every business is going to have to include the option for staff to work from home if they want to recruit the best talent available because, for many, it is going to be close to the top of their agenda for their next role. If your business is unable to facilitate this, you really need to start looking at how it can be achieved. Whilst all of this does seem like available and necessary steps to

Looking ahead – how are businesses preparing for postCOVID-19?

The new dawn does not herald clear blue skies either; the storm clouds of recession are already upon us, long before many businesses are even able to trade. We have all seen in the UK having been furloughed and the rapidly growing number of unemployed. Unfortunately, this is only going to increase as government funding for furloughed staff is systematically introduced and withdrawn to support further periods of restriction over the coming months.

down the hatches in preparation for the storm ahead, and almost all CFOs are totally focused on retaining cash, whether through cutting costs, reducing spend, getting better prices on what they must buy, whilst looking for ways to increase productivity to achieve more with less.

doom and gloom, it is the reality of where we find ourselves and every business must take all of the the stats with 8.4 million people

survive and then prosper. In time, the economy will recover and those businesses that successfully navigate the storm will enjoy the growth that comes with it.

So, if you are looking for ways to help your people and business through this storm by enabling remote working, controlling spend, reducing costs and increasing

productivity, the tech industry is here to help.

Online services manage bookkeeping, supply chain interaction, buying of supplies for home offices, enable meetings, provide reporting on productivity, allow reporting, scheduling and planning etc all without leaving your desk (other than for regular breaks) or your home.

If you’re not sure where to start you only have to ask any provider of a technology solution and we’ll point you to the best providers of all the services you need.

FIND OUT MORE...

Take Neil’s advice and ask how we can help enable home working: > www.compleatsoftware.com