The Challenge of COVID-19 to Our Business and What Lies Ahead

By Johnathan Dudley, Partner and National Head of Manufacturing at national audit, tax, advisory and risk firm Crowe
 
Fortunately, as a pretty tech-advanced business, we were already in a good state of preparation going into lockdown. Our phone system and video conferencing through Skype were already pre-loaded on people’s machines and almost everyone already had laptops.
We had protocols in place for data security at home, a secure client portal and the relevant hardware in place. The only additional matter was to furnish people with second screens that they very quickly missed, being at home, and after a couple of weeks, to supply office chairs, as dining chairs became increasingly uncomfortable.
So, when lockdown came, all we needed to do was to ensure we had sufficient VPN licences and we were set up to work from home immediately.
What was needed though, was the establishment of a means of frequent and regular communication with our teams who, though many are used to working ...