2020 was a difficult year for everyone - how did Mobile Wave Solutions face the pandemic challenge as a business?
Like many companies, we had to adapt quickly and make intuitive decisions based on a continually changing landscape - everyone says the situation was ‘unprecedented’, and it was - but we focussed on being as flexible as possible and putting trust in our team to make the right calls. Those two principles have guided our whole approach.
When it became clear in early 2020 that the Covid-19 Pandemic was a serious global crisis, what were your main priorities?
My primary objective was job security for our people, we kept everyone in the business and avoided redundancies and salary cuts. We spoke honestly and openly with our clients, finding new individual arrangements with each of them to ensure we were able to provide continuous first-class service, even if it required flexibility on both sides; we strive to be a dependable and reliable partner, even when times are tough - in fact especially when times are tough.
What did you do, practically, to adapt your working set-up to protect your teams?
From the outset our office management team quickly put protocols in place to ensure the working environment was safe: spacing work stations, staggering hours, increasing cleaning facilities etc., and ensuring each employee knew their responsibilities. Once the full implications of the pandemic became clear, we introduced home-working policies, while ensuring the office remained open when possible as a safe-space option should employees need it. We took care to consult our teams at all times, surveying them on their preferences. The situation affects everyone differently, and people need to be comfortable in their working set-up - all we could do was to be as flexible as possible. I’m immensely proud of the office team for going above and beyond to make everyone feel safe.
Lots of businesses were forced to shrink throughout 2020 - how was Mobile Wave Solutions affected by the pandemic?
We were very fortunate - we ended 2020 in a strong position. We supported our clients but not holding them to their contractual obligation and moved forward together as partners should do to ensure business continuity during and post Covid-19. Now we are hiring more resources, which demonstrates that our flexibility was the right approach. 2020 was a huge learning experience, but we’ve come out of it stronger, and we’re excited about what 2021 will bring.
Talking of the future - what are your hopes for 2021?
First of all that we all continue to be safe and healthy - that’s the main goal. From a business point of view, we are diversifying our business into new verticals the skills and services we offer can work for any industry - every industry is digital now, end-to-end software development is a crucial part of many organisations’ infrastructure. We know it can be a challenge to find the right people to deliver - that’s where we come in! We are confident 2021 will see more client partnerships come our way - and we continue to be a rock-solid partner for the clients who have trusted us to this point already. I’m very optimistic!
Finally - what was your biggest learning from 2020?
I suppose I already knew it, but trust your people. Look after them and they will look after you. Oh - and expect the unexpected! There’s always a new unknown challenge around the corner. And to be grateful for what we have - that’s something we can all do more of.
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