A newer way of working – The new way of living

Exactly one year ago, I wrote about my experiences in the first two-months of the pandemic, getting used to working from home, and the self-discipline that this entailed, holding meetings via a computer screen and new ways of speaking with customers, all whilst going through early stages of a company merger.

I, as most people, never envisaged we would still be in the midst of a pandemic a year on. The initial Covid-19 Lockdown seems like an eternity ago, the way we work, communicate, and live have changed forever.

The way the company and staff have met the challenges presented by not only a company merger, but the biggest health crisis this last century is amazing. Our mantra over the past year has been “Better Together”. The “New normal” has now just become the norm, we use Teams, Zoom, and Skype to communicate with our customers and colleagues. We truly are better together, and I am incredibly proud to be a part of the team.

Communicating with our international team, customers and manufacturing partners

Not only is our customer base international, but our staff are too! We have our offices in London and Witney in the UK, our European office in Italy, Warehouse in The Netherlands and of course our Asia Operations managed through our office in China, not to mention our network of manufacturing partners throughout China, Taiwan and Israel. There is never a problem with the language barrier, everyone is very patient with my Scouse accent!

Lockdown has given me a chance to really connect with our team, we really are multi-national.

I find my time split between calls to our extremely passionate team in Italy, calls to customers worldwide including India and Australia, speaking with very talented engineering and operations team in China and returning to the UK, all inside a day without having my passport stamped.

Team calls with our customers have become part of the day-to-day routine and something I really enjoy. 

When I receive a new enquiry, I want to hear more about the company and the project and the application, it really is about finding what is right for everyone involved. 

When you think about it you are basically inviting people into your home when you make these calls! 

People looking into your home, admiring your décor, meeting your pets (ducks and cats in my case!) ...crazy right? 

Adapting, adapting, adapting!

The world has adapted over the last year, and I believe as humans we have learned to be more understanding and compassionate, which cannot be a bad thing.

I had mentioned in my blog May last year I was preparing to run the London marathon for the fourth time, this was postponed until October 2020, and was held virtually due to the pandemic. If ever there was an example of adapting your product to the challenges of the current world events this, was it.

From a business perspective, one of the great new relationships I have been very involved with at Anders is with Kastus, a company in Ireland whose anti-microbial screen protector is lab tested to be effective against human coronavirus. This is another example of adapting to your circumstances, and one of many products I feel passionate about.

I miss my office workmates, but I enter the rest of the year with great hope that I will see them all soon, and of course get to meet the rest of my extended Anders Electronics team. 

I have managed to get to our Witney office recently and be able to sit in the famous Orange Chair at least!

Have a new embedded display project to discuss? I am more than happy to jump on a call with you then to see how Anders can help! Get in touch today!