WHO declared COVID-19 as a Pandemic on 12th March 2020.
As of now, to date, the casualties reported worldwide are more than 8,000 with over 200,000+ cases. According to the data gathered from and by many reliable sources, the major hit is taken by countries like China, Italy, Iran, Spain, the USA, UK, etc. Most of them are facing a lock-down situation like Italy.
It is clearly visible that some of the world’s biggest markets have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. And some of them are known as the technology giant in the world.
So, now you know the current scenario of the world’s market.
But, even a month before that, everyone around the world has got some idea about how devastating the situation is going to become in the upcoming days. Not only the individuals but many businesses from various domains have started realizing what’s waiting for them.
Information Technology is one of those industries to realize the gravity of the situation at its earliest. So, they have started taking preventive measures in their best possible way. Even if we cannot deny that a fair share of crisis is waiting for all of us but through these preventive measures, the effects of the hit have been minimized to the lowest possible points by the IT industry.
Being in the IT industry, we have also taken some preventive measures in our organization too. Here are the few preventive measures we took to tackle the current scenario caused by the COVID-19 to maintain a saturated work environment for constant and flawless productivity.
If anyone finds this information useful for their organization, we will feel that our purpose for writing this blog has been fulfilled.
Ways through which we are carrying on our productive operations without compromising the health of the employees:
1. Educating the workforce and communicating with employees on a regular basis
Education has always been the greatest weapon in fighting any war. And the COVID-19 has become a World War against the unknown. To date, the only solution brilliant minds around the world have come up with to fight against this virus is to avoid it in the first place. And, to avoid such a powerful enemy, preventing it from reaching you is the best possible offense you can make through the defense.
By educating the employees on how to take preventive measures not only in the office but also in their daily life, we have made our first move. We also communicated with each one of our employees to help them gain more resources and learn about the situation as it grows. Each one of our employees is notified through various official communicating tools about the on-going scenario even if they are not present at the office.
2. Reinforce healthy hygiene practices
Even after having proper hygienic rules in our office, we have made some special changes in them viewing the current scenario.
Some of them are as follow:
- We have installed large hand sanitizer dispensers at various places in our office like the entry gate, in front of the fingerprint scanner, etc. Everyone is asked to cleanse their hands properly with the alcohol-based hand sanitizers before touching the scanner and the attendance register.
- More liquid hand washes and dispensers are installed at bathrooms and pantry even if we have them already. It is to make sure that everyone is able to wash their hands properly. And then all the members are requested to wash their hands with these liquid hand washes for more than 20 sec for desired result and protection.
- Everyone is asked to avoid touching their mouth, nose, and eyes as much as possible.
- Wearing proper masks when traveling outside is requested to each one of our employees. It is also made advisable to wear masks at office premises if they want to.
- The employees are asked to stay at home if feel sick and seek medical emergency if found any symptoms related to the COVID-19.
3. Suspending and limiting business-related travels
There is no doubt that being in such a drastically evolving industry like IT, business tours, travels, conference meetings at various outer locations, training, etc are common. But, we have made it strictly limited to prohibited any such practices considering the current scenario. But, we also made sure that such practices should not cause any inconvenience to our valuable clients too. It is done for the best of both employees and the client’s health.
To tackle this situation, we have made use of modern technology that helps us to remain connected even from miles away. We changed our mode of communication to online by using various communication apps. Instead of visiting places, we started communicating with potential clients, new clients, and existing clients through calls, video calls, video conferencing, etc. And I am proud to say that even our highly cooperative clients have understood the gravity of the situation and are happy with this way.
**Note: After the COVID-19 Pandemic getting worse and the Government imposing new rules, we have also taken vital steps for the well being of everyone connected with our organization after 16th March 2020.
4. Considered having our employees to work remotely
In this digital era, there is a huge opportunity for people to work remotely without hampering the work efficiency and consistency. Our organization has also taken this bold step like many others while keeping the safety of employees as the first priority in mind.
Those (70% of total employees), who had the infrastructure already settled for their projects to work from home, started doing WFH from 16th March itself. For some members, the git repo setup continued till 18th March, before all the team members started doing work from home from 19th March.
The decision is made after discussing the matter with the heads of the management, and each and every one of our employees and after taking their consent.
The entire office has themselves agreed to work an extra day on the weekend until this situation comes to an end to provide proper service to the clients and deliver the work on time.
In this panicking situation when every private and government body is accepting complete lock-down, we appreciate each one of our employees for making such bold decision, their dedication, and giving equal importance to work as their personal life.
Let’s fight as one for a better tomorrow for all!
In this global crisis caused by the disease COVID-19, health is not the only aspect of our life that it is taking down with it. Each and every country’s economy is facing a huge hit due to this devastating situation. And, the future that it is going to leave for us even if the crisis ends will be completely turmoiled because of the economic slowdown.
So, if we at Openweb are able to contribute a small part to this huge loss in the country’s economy, we will be really happy from the heart. I request every organization to come together and fight against the unseen disaster that is waiting for us in the future along with the one going around right now.
Partha is the expert Branding Specialist at Openweb Solutions. Apart from doing his job, he is also a hardcore Digital Marketing Enthusiast and Senior Content Writer who loves exploring and experimenting with new digital marketing techniques thus involved in the entire digital marketing process. To know more about him, here is his LinkedIn profile: Click here!
