The sound of birds
Since I moved to England over thirty years ago, I’ve been fortunate to have always lived close to nature. We now live in the country and there are trees all around the house.
One thing that trees have are birds who fill the springtime with bird song. This year their sound seems louder than ever. I’m sure that’s because everything else is quieter; the roads where we live are pretty much deserted and there are a lot less people out too. But the birds shout out.
These are strange and frightening times. We’re living in the midst of a truly global pandemic. An old colleague from Sydney, Australia asked me recently how it’s impacting our business, and shared how they feel they are just weeks behind us. I spoke to an old client last week from Thailand, where in many ways they are ahead of us in their response to the situation. Like everyone else we are concerned about our colleagues, who likewise are worried about their friends and families and ensuring people they care about is safe. The world appears to have split. Some people are frantically busy and having to organise their people to work safely to provide continuity of care and business; as well as health professionals, we are also working with people in the food and delivery sectors who’ve never been busier. And there are also many people in many sectors who suddenly find themselves in ‘non-essential’ industries who are already on enforced leave, have been furloughed or face redundancy.
In a small business we’re also seeing these two worlds. Some of our work has been put ‘on hold’ whilst organisations respond to the implications of Covid-19 and reassure their people. Other projects have continued, and where we have people working inside organisations the vast majority have never been busier as trusted advisers to their clients. That’s a testimony to their real worth.
For those of us who’ve had some additional time at home we’ve used this period to look afresh at our brand and update our website. For communication professionals this is never easy. It’s always a bit of a balancing act – updating and refreshing to reflect the times but continuing to convey what’s core to your business. In our case it’s that relationships and personal service are never more important. But we’re happy with the results and I hope at very least it’ll prompt a conversation, particularly from people who are interested in our world. So, if you have a spare five minutes and can take a break from listening to the birdsong do share your thoughts on what we’ve done. For some of you, I know that mightn’t be for a while but I hope you’ll like the changes too. As always it’s good to hear from you.
Published by James