As a global energy company, with activities that affect many people’s access to energy around the world, closing down was never an option during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, we rapidly implemented COVID-19 initiatives at all our offices around the world, to help our colleagues stay productive and safe - at home or in the workplace.
The COVID-19 outbreak has affected, and still is affecting, many industries and businesses. Some workplaces have implemented strict restrictions, while others have moved to more flexible work arrangements in order to keep things running.
Our MAKEEN Energy offices in Portugal and the UK have shared their COVID-19 initiatives and how they handled and adapted to the new normal working conditions.
Prepared for the unpredictable in Portugal
At the Portugal office – responsible for our activities in Iberia and the Americas – they never stopped working. Already from the initial stages of the pandemic, they decided to send 100% of the office staff home to work remotely.
Fortunately, the work structure in Portugal is very agile, with the organisation already divided into autonomous, self-organising and cross-functional teams, each responsible for 5 countries. As a result, they were already accustomed to working with various online collaboration tools and remotely coordinating with each other. They could therefore act quickly and adapt easily to these new working conditions without major disruptions.
The most interesting thing was to see the speed and agility in our reaction to this challenge. The key is to have your organization always trained in Change Management. The mind-set must be ready for change!
