“It was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make” – said our CEO and CVO, Carla Gaspar, almost six months ago when she announced to the world the SMARTIDIOM team would begin working remotely.

“I never imagined a day like this would come. I never dreamed, not even in my wildest dreams, of having to hold an emergency meeting to decide on a strategy that would enable us to all work from home for months, with no end in sight. To do so, having a clear idea of our priorities, my purpose as a leader and our common purpose as an organisation were essential. But because we did have all these, it was one of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make,” she added.

During February, the team met to draw up the preventive measures and procedures we would need to implement should the need to take extreme action arise, as we all witnessed the lightning-fast speed with which COVID-19 was spreading around the world. On 13 March, we implemented this new working method as a way to reduce the risk of contagion among team members and to do our part to make every effort possible to help stop the scourge. In May, we announced the SMARTIDIOM team would be working remotely and that we would reassess the situation in September to work out the best way forward.

September has now arrived, and we’ve spoken to the team again, letting them know they can choose to return to the office for the rest of 2020 if they want. That means each member of our team will be able to make this decision for themselves, based on what makes the most sense for them. It’s true! Anyone who wants to keep working from home can until the end of this year when we’ll reassess. In December we’ll carry out another analysis and take appropriate measures based on what we find.

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS?

• We’ve made significant changes to the way we relate to each other. We have become closer, even though we are physically farther apart. Never before have we checked in with each other so often to ask “How are you?”, “Do you need anything?” and “How’s it all going?”

• We have all become better professionals and better people. We’ve put ourselves in other people’s shoes, been taken out of our comfort zones and discovered that, even when everything seems different and scary, it’s our attitude that dictates the rules of the game and the way we tell our story.

• We’ve managed to work more than ever and, yes, we’ve proved to ourselves we can be more productive at home than in the office – even though we may have lunch at home with our families, slip out to the dentist’s if we need to and even take more breaks during the day than when we’re in the office.

• We’ve grown, become more empowered and more resilient. We’ve created solutions from nothing, seen unexpected leaders emerge and witnessed our usual leaders take the helm with a bravery that would make any company glow with pride.

• And today, we stand more united than ever, because our greater purpose has gained strength.

AND WHAT WILL THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS LOOK LIKE FOR OUR COMPANY, AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK REMOTELY?

• Instead of face-to-face meetings, we’re suggesting meeting remotely (saving on travel costs and helping the environment to recover a little from all the harm we’ve been doing) whenever possible. There’s no reason for us to stop social distancing: we’ll keep giving it our all, and it may just come as a surprise how simple and easy a Skype, Zoom or Microsoft Teams call is.

• And why not schedule a meeting with us in advance to drop off any documents that need to be certified or apostilled, or if you want to meet face-to-face for a quote? That way we can go into the office to meet you. Here’s a convenient place where you can do just that.

• You can still contact us by e-mail, landline, mobile, social networks: in short, everywhere you could before! You can even send us a project at midnight, and we guarantee we’ll follow up with you the following day, without fail!

It took us some time to adapt, but the results have been so positive that we have to look to the future with optimism (because we all need to start with optimism to be able to equip ourselves with resilience and hope for what comes next.) SMARTIDIOM has successfully overcome the difficulties it faced and kept the dream of achieving its goals alive, despite everything that’s been going on. And we believe everything will work out OK for you too. If you feel any dangers are lurking in the shadows and think our team can help, then get in touch!