'Business as usual'
Project management throughout a pandemic has demanded adaptability and resourcefulness. We have tried our best, shifting pretty seamlessly to a full-time digital way of working – our 'new normal' at home.
Most of us have also had to contend with homeschooling our children and balancing this with work commitments, meetings and deadlines. Some of us have also had concerns over the health of friends and family members to deal with, just like everyone else.
Other factors have also come into play, like complete changes to what we class as 'the working day'. When childcare or home-school takes up a lot of the normal 9am-5pm, it's incredibly helpful to have some of our developer friends from Domain7 residing in Canada. This has meant some project steps, such as daily stand-ups, have been possible to push back later into the day, and late-night conversations often continue into the early hours, giving us a real sense of 24/7 cover. The commitment has felt massive, and proven clearly how a project of this scale can be achieved when we need to be at our most flexible, in working day terms. The team has moulded itself around unforeseen circumstances superbly. It's brought a new meaning to Agile!
As well as these new, strange personal demands, the pandemic and the project has meant the Digital and Content Team has needed to adapt in ways we never planned – sounding familiar to your lockdown experience? The project is on top of our business-as-usual commitments, and the team has done a miraculous job staying positive and providing support to our stakeholders under such heavy demands. Hiring temps and training them up online has been done with smiles and tons of positive energy.