It was a Monday, we were already working from home in the midst of a global pandemic. It seemed worse in other countries.
Here in the UK we were still moving around freely. Life had only been slightly adjusted.
However, that evening on the 23rd March, we went from slight adjustment to an unprecedented lockdown. The likes of which the UK had never seen before. Boris Johnson addressed the nation and told us we were in a state of ‘lockdown’
Week 1 as a UK InnoWaver in lockdown:
We had something to talk about. Everyone was living the same surreal life and whoever you were we had ‘common ground’. We have scheduled a daily team call every morning, it isn’t mandatory, and we do not have to speak about work. It’s just good to catch up. We set up drinks and a chat via Teams on a Friday. We were keeping it as normal as normal could be. Almost every client call began with the same subject. For some clients it led to jokes about how they will survive lockdown with their families. Away from work social distancing led to more socialising then ever. I spoke to members of my family on Zoom and Teams, people who had never heard of these tools pre lockdown. I spoke to my postman out of the window – just because it was another human being to interact with (of course, whilst observing proper distancing)
Week 2 as a UK InnoWaver in lockdown:
The reality of the situation begins to set in at this point. And you have to work a little harder than you did in week 1. Week 1 was like an extended period of working from home. Now its obvious this is going to last for a long time. It is time to shift your mind to this being the new normal. The situation outside is getting worse and the reality of companies falling into difficult times is setting in. Now is the time we really focus on who we say we are. Innovators and a company who want to change lives. So, we have embraced that in the UK. We have been in touch with our local community in the form of the shared office space we occupy. Just to say we are here to help and support. We are innovating our approach to succeed every day. We went from shock to positivity and defiance that this will not beat us.
We are talking and strategizing more than ever, and actually lockdown in separate locations has brought us together even more.
We still have morning catch ups; we still have our Friday drinks. I still had my weekend family quiz night (this was never a thing before!) Oh, and I finally did some gardening at the weekend!