A new way of working
For William Hill, the switch to remote working wasn’t too disruptive as he’d already been with Pagabo for a year and was well integrated into his role and the wider organisation’s processes. He stressed that he sympathised with new starters and believed that expectations among future employees will have changed for good: “I think a hybrid approach is definitely needed going forward. Young people are going to expect flexibility, so employers must cater to the demand for remote working – that’s going to be really crucial.”
All parties agreed that working from home was here to stay but the general consensus was that there is one overwhelming benefit to being in the office – ease of communication and collaboration.
Lewis Mannion – who was furloughed for a short time – explained: “Being quite new to the industry and still learning and picking things up from more senior members of the team, I found it quite difficult to keep up to speed. I much prefer being in the office and bouncing things off everyone.”
Amelia Walsh – who started her role during lockdown – echoed Lewis’ sentiment and said remote working had slowed down the onboarding process: “When I started, we were in lockdown, so my laptop, phone, everything was delivered to my home. Minor set-up jobs that would normally take 10 minutes, probably took close to a couple of hours.”
Rachel Gunns said she felt “glued to technology”, which resonated with the rest of the panel, who all agreed on the importance of setting boundaries and creating a clear distinction between personal and professional lives – particularly when working from home.
On the topic of health and safety at sites, Lewis Mannion believes the pandemic has served as a catalyst for investment in solutions that will stand the test of time.
“Everything is contact free and there’s automated rotation on the entry turnstile. Something else that we introduced was the site briefing cabins, which is essentially a big cabin with two big doors that open to display all the sitemaps, site logistics, risk boards and everything else required for the day. The site manager delivers the daily briefing from there to the team outside. Adapting had its challenges, but we got through it in the end by learning the new ways of working together and I think we've learned a lot coming out of the other side.”
“I think construction dealt with it pretty well,” agreed Will Hill. “Within a couple of weeks, sites were back in operation – albeit at a reduced capacity – and that’s something to be really proud of as an industry.”
Reflecting on this, the group agreed that business continuity was vital – particularly with regards to projects within the public sector.
Will discussed how new projects were coming to market described as “pandemic proof”. He said: “You only have to look at the Nightingale Hospitals to see contractors being appointed almost overnight and procurement being done instantaneously. This has really supported the use of frameworks and I think that if anything similar was to happen again, the industry would come together and be in an even better position to help the public sector.”
Rachel Gunns expanded: “A lot of the work we do is with schools, so their closure actually provided an opportunity for us to carry out work in what were largely unoccupied buildings, which was a real positive in a negative situation. In terms of other challenges, such as supply chain issues, the only way they can be better managed is by giving more time and clearer instructions.”
Lewis explained that Morgan Sindall Construction has ensured continuity in its building programmes through maintaining strong, collaborative relationships with suppliers and subcontractors: “We’ve got what we call a supply chain family of suppliers and manufacturers, who work closely with our preferred subcontractors. These relationships have been vital in terms of keeping us up to date and informed on the availability of resources, material costs and lead times.”
Rachel wholeheartedly agreed: “Collaboration has definitely improved and, at times, has saved any difficult conversations about time, money or material shortages.”
“Communication, too,” added Amelia. “When there's uncertainty and you can't always get the answer you want, it’s vital to communicate with the client on subjects such as cost certainty. Otherwise, things can get lost in translation. Now, it's great how you can get on a quick Teams call – it’s a lot easier. Everyone just wants to keep the project moving.”