The new coronavirus disease is spreading all around the world and the society we used to know is put on hold for an undetermined period of time. People are locked in their homes, establishments are shutting down, capital cities are turning into ghost towns and a cloud of fear and uncertainty is surrounding the planet. This invisible enemy is threatening not only human lives but also the global economy, forcing companies to adapt and fight against business slowdown.
At Sterblue we believe there is only one way to face the challenge: be even more human.
This article will take you through our journey trying to adapt to the current crisis in the immediate future. The first step was to understand what changed for Sterblue, whereas the second was to actually take actions and adjust. Here we go.
Remote work was nothing new for Sterblue, but for the first time ever it is mandatory.
It is impossible to ignore, but easy to accept, that our living rooms had suddenly turned into improvised offices. Now the real challenge is to keep up with the fun, optimism and team spirit that gathers us at Sterblue during these difficult times . Not everyone is emotionally prepared to deal with the current situation, which calls for an increased responsibility from management and human resources.
At Sterblue we started by implementing a weekly team meeting where the only goal is to talk about ourselves and how we are doing at a personal level. On top of that, after working hours, we meet for a “remote apero” every week where drinks and snacks are indispensable. Here of course we have to thank Zoom for the awesome tool that not only allows us to shorten distance, but also to add some fun backgrounds and make us feel less bored during social isolation.
Sterblue product deployment is getting more and more remote and streamlined.
The role of our customers in the energy and utility sector is now more essential than ever and we want to make their lives easier. During these difficult times, the Sterblue team is twice as committed to customer success and customer happiness and, to ensure this, we upgraded our customer support efforts.
While at the moment, meetings in person and training pilots on field may carry some extra obstacles, there is no excuse to stop! For the new potential customers, we are working on a more streamlined onboarding process and we are obviously aware and flexible to possible constraints.
Finally, this “paused world” gives us the opportunity to better focus on internal projects and product development. Providing our software as a service, training drone pilots remotely and offering an emergency inspection solution are just a few examples that you will hear about shortly.
More than ever, Sterblue wants to stay connected, create positive energies and share relevant content with our community.
The crisis caused by the current pandemic has made the line between business and personal thinner than ever. Of course people are still interested in improving their daily business activities, but human related topics are taking a bigger slice of their attention. It is not feasible to maintain business as usual, without understanding what the audience is going through in such sensible times.
The flow of information about the virus on social media and inboxes today is so overwhelming that it can potentially affect people’s motivation and productivity. At Sterblue we don’t want to be just one more voice talking about “You-Know-Who” without having something to add. We rather believe in learning from each other and feeding our minds with constructive information during this period.
For that reason, the Sterblue team is already working on industry relevant articles and webinars to share with our community (take a look at our 4 new topics here). If you are stuck at home and tired of “Netflix & chill”, here are some suggestions for the evening: watch one of our past webinars or read this article.
No matter how different the journey is, we are all facing a common challenge. So, let’s stay safe, positive and in touch :)
