Testing times

It’s safe to say everyone is feeling the effects of or worrying about the economic downturn resulting from the spread of Coronavirus. We hope that our friends, family and clients are all staying safe in these strange circumstances.

We, like others, have felt the pinch, we have had projects cut back, postponed or in some cases cancelled but we are remaining positive nonetheless.

As much as I don’t want this to be seen as a rallying call – there are plenty out there already – now more than ever we are having to trust our company values and believe that we will get through this. I also wanted to share with you some of the things we have discussed here at Zing in case they might help you get through it stronger and more focussed than ever. These can apply to home lives as well as work.

1.            Communicate, communicate, communicate – and do it well!

Communication is even more important now, however we are doing it. Here at Zing we use whatsapp, email and phone calls every day, as well as actually talking to each other in the office (I know, right?!). With remote working in full swing for lots of people and on the horizon for more of us, its key that we talk more, let people know what you have been doing, what you plan to do and keep your relationships strong, healthy and positive. We’re planning on starting a Microsoft Teams meeting every day too because we think it’s helps to see each other.

2.            Learn something.

Now is as good a time as any to do something new, with a little extra time on our hands why not read a book, take an online course, learn a skill that you can benefit from when things settle down again. We are looking at some online courses around Power BI here at Zing, so we can deliver better visuals for our clients and show data in dashboards. I also have a couple of books to read and would love to hear any reading or viewing recommendations. TED talks are always good too, though we never feel like we have time to sit and immerse ourselves into them when we are in the hustle and bustle of daily agency life.

3.            Have a spring clean.

Spend an hour or so ‘cleansing’ your work space. Get rid of the mountains of paperwork (I am guilty of this, although at the moment they are more hills than mountains) and throw some stuff away, or better still recycle it. Again this applies to your home as well as your work, if you are working from home it’s important to do so in a nice environment. We are also looking at all our website copy, something we have been meaning to do for a while, so please bear with us if our website isn’t 100% at present, we’re working on making it the best representation of us that it can be.

4.            Get organised.

Why not book a meeting with someone you have been hoping to speak to. You can still have a Skype of Facetime call after all. Even if nothing comes from it, it is good to keep in touch with people and offer to help in any way you. Here at Zing we are speaking to our clients as regularly as we can and we are thinking of ways we can help. One thing we can offer, if anyone is interested, is a review of your databases. This would include us looking at the data you hold, identifying any gaps or potential improvements and also some analysis of the data you hold too. We often find that people don’t know the value that can be derived from the data they already hold.

5.            Don’t be afraid to get outside.

While we aren’t meant to be gathering in large numbers we can still leave the house. We are lucky that we live in the countryside of Norfolk and can still go out for a walk or to get some fresh air. While this isn’t advisable if you’re in London or another major city, where you’re likely to come into close contact with others, at the time of writing we aren’t on ‘lockdown’ so if you’re symptom free then take advantage of it and head for your nearest open-space.

So there we go, five things you may or may not be able to do in these challenging times. Remember to be kind, we are all in this together.

I’d love to hear feedback or comments on anything in this post, feel free to contact me via jonathaneagle@zinginsights.com if you have any comments or want us to help you.

Posted by Jonathan