Last week we held our first online FA&R network event hosted by Andy Potter and Lubnah Alam. After initial welcomes and introductions from all attendees Andy did a recap from the last face to face session in February.
To kick off the session there as a game of Finance Bingo and the winner was given a donation to their chosen charity. Congratulations to Stuart Withers and Debbie Pickering, £20 has been donated to Tommy’s and £10 to St Rocco’s Hospice.
The session focused on the effects of COVID19 and started with the question of how have you made month end successful working remotely. This brought up various challenges around the group including, flexible working and deadlines, working longer hours, keeping constant contact and communication within teams to check in on them and make sure they are ok. IT issues and equipment, recruitment and supporting new starters.
The next question asked how are you keeping the team motivated. There has been a definite need to keep a daily check in with the team via Teams/Skype etc meetings to encourage and support. Playing games and doing quizzes is also something that many teams have introduced to try and keep things lighthearted and fun and keep communication going. There has to be a lot of reassurance within teams to make sure that individuals are not worrying about meeting deadlines etc and if extra help or support is needed. They are also discussed how are leaders being supported and who is checking in on them.
How do you communicate your teams performance with your customers whilst working remotely was the next question. Has communication increased or changed? Have you experienced delays with deadlines? It was interesting to hear that the majority felt it was business as usual as customers are all in the same situation so there is a greater understanding. Communication via Teams/Skpe and emails has increased dramatically to keep customers updated. Month end has been moved out in some organisations.
The final part of the session touched on the impact from Covid19 on the job market and what opportunities will there be. This brought up various challenges caused by recruitment freezes, sales being down, business cases on hold and cost saving. This also brought up the subject of new starters and junior members - how do you train them virtually? How does this impact them? The positives and opportunities mentioned included sharing staff between departments to give them a better experience and more remote working.
The slides are available to view and download from the resources section of the website.
To view the the live session, please CLICK HERE
