Production in full swing despite Covid-crisis, PART 2

Although the remote meetings rock and roll, the sound of silence in the corridor can also be a bluff. Read more about Tasowheelers’ workdays during the lockdown.

Singing in the meetings

Pilvi has worked from home for more than a month now with flexible working hours. Flexible means that she starts at 6 a.m. in a silent house and takes her first break at 8 to begin her shift as a school assistant for her sons. After the remote school day is up and running, she gets back to her tasks as the Sales and Production Controller of Tasowheel Gears. At noon, she leaves her desk again, not for lunch but for organizing lunch.

As we all have our unique daily schedules, preparing a warm meal for everyone requires some extra organizing.

After the school day is over, Pilvi finally has exclusive access to their home broadband.

Parallel to her new role as a school assistant, another major change is the office view. At Tasowheel, she had a first-row seat for watching the goods get transported from the factory. Now, from the home office window, she observes the uninvited deer guests having flowers for breakfast. Together with a pheasant couple, city rabbits, and the three schoolboys, they form Pilvi’s current work community.

The social part of my work has changed the most. There are no customer visits and I cannot pop in a colleague’s room for having a chat.

Luckily, Pilvi and her colleagues had already implied Teams and remote meetings earlier this year, so they adapted the operative processes and practices quickly to the new situation. Although the video is mostly turned off for a better connection, there remain some hints from people’s current work environment.

It is hard for my sons to approve that their singing performances are not on our agenda!

Yet even in the rhythm of background music, the remote meetings have turned out to be efficient, as people focus on getting things solved. This has affected all communication with colleagues.

I even plan my calls better than before. I think of all the issues that I need to discuss with someone instead of picking up the phone whenever a single topic occurs to me.

New orders keep rolling in

The calm atmosphere at Tasowheel Systems is only a bluff. The corridors have quieted down, though, but that is only because the loudest ones – the salespeople – now work from home. In terms of production and sales, the spring has actually been quite busy.

There is naturally some uncertainty in the air, and a few examples of postponed orders. On the other hand, we are also constantly receiving new orders and serving new customers, Janne reports.

Apart from canceled trade fairs and travel plans, the crisis has not affected his own workdays. For a hands-on supervisor, working from home is not an option. It is important to be present and available.

I just don’t hang around in the production as often as before.

Janne praises his colleagues for staying positive all the time and taking even spontaneous acts of responsibility in minimizing the risk of infection. For himself, exercising and outdoor activities are the best sources of energy and wellbeing.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Tasowheel continues its business operations and serves its customers normally. Production is in full swing and goods are delivered on time. Although colleagues now meet through a screen, they have managed to keep the positive team spirit and wish the same for everyone else, too. In our post series,”Tasowheelers” reveal how the crisis has affected their working life and how they cope with the restrictions we all need to follow.