#FightBackCorona: Vigilance & planning are critical in these times: Chaaya Baradhwaaj

These are extraordinary times and we all are in uncharted territory. There is a lot of fear and negativity in all spheres due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While the Corona Warriors are doing a tremendous job fighting from the frontlines, we at Adgully are embarking on an endeavour to highlight the positive developments during these challenging times. 

Over the next few weeks, Adgully will be featuring a series of brief interactions with industry leaders in India and find out how they are keeping their spirits up as well as keeping their employees motivated, also how they are joining in the fight against the adverse impact of the global pandemic. 

Chaaya Baradhwaaj, Founder & MD, BC Web Wise, tells us about how she and her team are gearing up for the tough times and has some very common sense-laced suggestions that will go a long way in keeping people working from home productive and also lessen the blow of the economic downturn.  

What steps are you and your organisation taking to help out the society at large or those engaged in the war against Covid-19?
One of our team members came up with the suggestion that we can all declare one day’s salary to donate to people who are losing their daily wage earnings, so this is one key thing that we are doing. We are also exploring other options on how we can support, and if there are other things we could support with, in the coming days, for instance, donating things we are in a position to give away and those that this community is need of. 

How are you keeping your employees motivated and are encouraging them to give their best, even as they are working from home?
We have introduced ‘Chai Pe Charcha’, where we all gather either over a video conference in the mornings or lunch or tea-time break for a virtual meeting and greeting and sharing fun stuff. We are also doing a survey as I respond to see how it is actually going for everyone, and what are the pluses/ minuses and challenges of working from home. 

What is most needed in challenging times such as these:
(a)  From the general public

To follow rules and stay safe as best possible.

(b) From the authorities

We need to find a way to have supply of essentials distributed well to people, while at the same time also exercising measures to protect the people who are involved in serving the essentials themselves. Cutting off transport, for instance, how does a person who works in a grocery store reach his place of work? He has to walk great distances! There are many products that have started selling in black, and this is going to be detrimental. For example, in Bandra last night a paan-shop was vandalised. If people are denied what they need, if their need for a daily income is not quickly addressed, we are going to face some serious challenges in the coming days.

(c)  From business leaders

Support our employees who need support from us. Not everyone can work from home. Look at our inventory/ stock and ensure we are optimising everything we can – be it costs, resources, etc., in whatever way we can. We need to run through these tough times over the long run. So, vigilance and planning are critical. What can we do to change the way we are doing things is critical, and in fact, this may lead to some great realisations. For instance, working from home cuts travel time, and maybe it can increase productivity for certain services. It may also lead to better health and well-being for employees and lesser pollution. We can leverage all the great learnings that are going to come with this situation.

 

Also Read:

Vikas Khanchandani on how R. Bharat broke away from ‘sameness’ in Hindi News genre

How agencies are keeping productivity levels high while working from home

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