With the escalation of COVID-19 across the world, we recognize the importance of updating you on our practices for this challenging situation. We’ve been following the guidelines from the government and international public health authorities closely to monitor the situation, while continuing to the best of our capabilities to meet the delivery requirements and schedules.
On a slightly visual note, We welcome you to take a glimpse of how Amnet is connecting within and trying to bring certainty to you!
We are sure you are concerned about our safety and the impact of this situation on the deliveries due from our side. The primary objective of this email is to provide you an update on both.
At the outset we would like to thank you for the confidence in us and the support extended to us in these uncertain times. We are grateful to you for all the understanding and continued inflow of work in these challenging times. We are an organization that takes a lot of pride in our relationships across the board, and we are truly proud to have you as a partner.
We are closely monitoring the situation at the ground level and tracking the status of each of our employees and their families daily. We have implemented a policy to support our employees and their families in case of any need arising due to COVID. We are also in touch and actively communicating with government and health authorities for any updates or notifications that may impact our work and daily routines. We have implemented an array of employee engagement programs to ensure that our teams are constantly communicating and collaborating through various online mediums.
Work from home is a way of life for the teams now and we have equipped them with all the resources required to perform their duties effectively. We earnestly strive to deliver as committed. We can also assure you that we will give you information in advance about any adverse situation that may arise. We are well prepared to activate alternate models, business continuity plan (BCP), and scale-up plans if the need arises. You are the center of our universe and we will make sure that we have your best interests in mind always and deliver accordingly. Like they say, “This too shall pass”.
We look forward to further enriching our relationship with you.
Thank you for being an incredibly understanding partner!
Many of you may have gone back to the pre-lockdown routine and some of you may still be working remotely. In either case, we are hoping that you are staying safe and practicing social distancing as much as possible.
In the state that we operate from – Tamil Nadu, India, the lockdown continues till the 31st of July (with some relaxations). We respect the guidelines from the governing authorities, continue to operate remotely, ensuring the safety of our employees, keeping our stakeholders up to date on our crisis management practices, and delivering certainty to our clients.
Even though the shift to the remote working environment was sudden, it was not unexpected. Before the lockdown was announced three months ago, an emergency team was set up and preparations had begun at war footing to tackle the situation within a limited time. This preparedness combined with a structured plan and efficient workforce enabled us to seamlessly transition to WFH within a few days.
While WFH was not new, the scale at which it is being practiced is novel to us with thousands of remote workers. Three months down the line, we have a more matured WFH model, with a stronger BCP infrastructure. This model has paved the way for the acceleration of the adoption of technology at work, redefining the man-machine bond.
Amnet updates – Forging connections
In our endeavor to bring certainty to our customers, we continue to maintain a resilient ecosystem during this time. We have forged new operational partnerships. Our operation efficiency is being fortified to build a remote/distributed network to enable collaboration and engagement. Our teams are equipped to log in anytime, anywhere to ensure we deliver on our commitments to the customers at scale.
Backed with 20 years of experience, a strongly motivated team, and well-defined strategic objectives, we are determined to play out stronger for the wonderful journey ahead!
As always let’s stay connected and safe.
Team Amnet
Greetings!
I hope you are well, staying healthy as is your family, loved ones, and your colleagues!
We have been doing fine, as a team and as a company! The work from home scenario has held its positive stead and the teams are going strong. In fact, here is a synopsis from our internal School of Life session today. Out of the 19 participants, we had one participant rating the work from home experience at a 10, the others between 7 and 8. There was a question as to how do I see this phenomenon shaping in the future context of work. While I am not a futurist, I do believe that as a company, we are going to actively pursue exploring work from home as an approach to our working lives. I think it will be a hybrid model in that there would be a mix of teams alternating periods of time between home and the office. Personally, I have been working from home two full days every week for the past 5+ years and I have benefitted tremendously. Here is a question for you: What has been your experience so far – how would you rate it on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most positive)?
I am grateful for the proactive leaders and individual contributors in the company who have gone above and beyond to make sure that we deliver on our promises to you. We are doing our best to ensure that we are able to take up your requirements and deliver diligently on them. Please do share any inputs or feedback you may have as it pertains to your experience. Feedback is a gift and I know we will learn and improve. We have been continuing our daily huddles with the senior members in the company and they, in turn, with their teams to ensure that we stay on top of managing the current situation and staying safe and healthy. We have also encouraged members to take up learning programs. Interestingly, some have taken up courses like Learning How to Learn, Learning to Draw, Neuro Linguistic Programming (yours truly), How to Meditate, and wait for it…How to be a Stand-up Comedian. I have to say, I am waiting to see the performance. : )
On a final note, while I know that we are all going through the discomfort of this rather unique situation, I would like to share two quotes that have been helpful to me whenever I am not feeling up to it!
It is my sincere wish that you stay well, healthy, and together, we will come out stronger than we were when we went in! Have a super weekend!
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
I hope you’ve had a good weekend and an even better week so far! This weekend for me was full of reading. I read new content, revisited books earlier read and made notes, revisited notes earlier made. A book that I had earlier read called Mastery (highly recommended), has a very insightful explanation of Homeostasis. The idea being that at a condition of equilibrium, we are resistant to change. For example, think of a thermostat. Once you set it at a certain temperature, the mechanism works towards maintaining the temperature. In our context, simply put, this applies to our comfort pits. Our current standards (defined by us) keep us there. And unless we make a conscious effort to raise them, we don’t improve (at least consciously). This one word has made me think a lot, in my context and what could I do to change the thermostat. Perhaps, something to think about…
This brings me to another point that came up in one of my conversations where a colleague remarked ‘we won’t go back to normal’. The question I ponder about is at every stage of change, there is a new normal. I wonder if I want to go back to the normal that was? Perhaps, we will go to normalcy, however a new one. So, while the lockdown may ease up, I am keeping myself open to the idea that it will be a refreshingly new way to approach a normal day.
I am grateful and proud of our team members who continue to work diligently, to the maximum extent possible, to deliver certainty to you, our valued client. We are in regular and in consistent touch with each other to make sure that the deliveries are met, and as importantly, any change in schedule is communicated to you, in advance. At the same time, the members are making sure that they stay safe and keep their families safe as well. I am also in gratitude for many of the members taking time to make an impact in the social realm. They are contributing towards the needs of the lesser privileged, investing resources in organizations that would need a hand at this time. And I am very, very inspired to ask you a question:
“If you have ideas about how we can better serve you, please let us know. If there is an issue that you think our company could help your community address, tell us about it.”
I believe very sincerely, that we are in this together, and we shall overcome, together, one day at a time!
The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity – Ulysses S. Grant
Have a wonderful and safe week! Please take care.
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
We have just received the communication from the Indian government that the lockdown is being extended until the 03rd of May 2020. While this is beyond our circle of influence, we want to try and make the best of the situation. This includes continuing to take care of our team members and staying on top of our deliverables to you.
We want to assure you that we will continue to serve you as we have been in recent weeks and keep updating you about our processes and challenges regularly. Changes in schedule, different work locations, and social distancing have been a very unique experience but we are focusing our energies on deepening existing relationships, amplifying hope, gratitude, positivity and tackling challenges one day at a time.
As always, please reach out if you have any queries whatsoever and I look forward to hearing from you. And to sign off on a more positive note, together, we shall overcome!
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
As we continue to adhere to the norms regarding social distancing, here is something that reminds us of its value.
Hold the Line… says Prof. Jonathan Smith, lecturer in epidemiology at Yale University. “People may start to think that social distancing measures are not working. They are. They may feel futile. They aren’t. You will feel discouraged. This is normal in chaos. This is the normal epidemic trajectory. Stay calm. The enemy we are facing is very good at what it does; we are not failing. We need everyone to hold the line.”
I am reminded that the brightest days come after the darkest nights. So hold on, prepare, build the arsenal, dawn is coming.
Watch us Work it!
I continue to share with you glimpses of what we’ve been at.
Our national leadership had called for a nation-wide voluntary power shutdown for a few minutes last Sunday. As a proactive measure, we asked all those working on desktops to switch off the machine half an hour before and after the shut down so that the power supply settles down.
In the last update, I had mentioned the team member who didn’t have a proper connector to connect to his Mac monitor, and that we were unable to find a replacement for him due to the lockdown…well, we still haven’t! He has been taken off live projects!
Likewise, there are a few members who cannot be utilized under the WFH scenario because of operational issues. We have encouraged them to join online courses (paid/ free) so that the time is effectively utilized. Building the arsenal so as to speak!
Have a superb week ahead and please stay at home and safe!
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
Charlie Chaplin once told the audience a wonderful joke and had the audience in splits… Charlie repeated the same joke and only a few people laughed… He again repeated the same joke but this time no one laughed… Then he said these beautiful lines… “when you cannot laugh on the same joke again and again…then why do you cry again and again on the same worry.”
So if it’s time to find the silver lining in this collective cloud, let’s play the actors’ part in all-the-world’s-a-stage cliché … but this time not in an action thriller, but a more psychological drama, with an invisible villain, fewer cast but stunning visuals (thanks to the return of Mummy Nature) creating more plots and subplots and trying to get better with each situation, understanding the nuances of the challenges and getting on top of it.
Concerning work, while you may be trying to seamlessly integrate processes in the current situation, you are also working on your inner processing. While we are all impacted by the lockdown, full or partial, I believe it is also a wonderful opportunity to connect, delve deeper into activities we have been wanting to undertake and make lemonade with the lemons.
So what are we doing differently during this time?
We’ve had our employees take up forgotten hobbies, taking a much-needed trip down memory lane. We realized that in between being a teenager who excelled in percussion and being a full-grown workaholic, life happened! Playing Monopoly, playing Pictionary like we are all Picassos of our kind and even playing the drums for that matter, are all things we blamed the lack of time for, and that we now have more of. It may even be a bitter pill to swallow that it took a pandemic for us to revisit our old hobbies and games.
Challenges
Currently, a challenge we are facing is that one of our prominent team members is unable to arrange a replacement for his MAC connector. Considering that even the shops in the locality do not have one, and we can’t get him one from the office due to the lockdown, we are still wondering how to resolve this. We will let you know how we deal with this in the forthcoming update. Any suggestions are welcome!
Learning
Resilience is CONTAGIOUS…. spread it! So is humour…difficult to ignore some “pundemic” jokes that are being splashed around, like this one. The year 2020 went “viral” faster than anyone thought it would!
Stay safe and stay positive! We shall overcome, together!
Regards,
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
Life seems to have come a full circle for many of us! Haven’t you observed kids playing house-house? They act like a mom, dad, teacher, office, kitchen, bike rider, sit behind the wheels of a car everything inside one room. Come to think of it, whether you like it or not, aren’t we all doing the same thing now! Donning several hats under the same roof, but this time not as per our own volition!
It is also a time ripe for cynicism and that can impact negatively. So, if you have to be scared, be scared of fear. I am tempted to quote from a recent HBR article on the discomfort we feel now as grief! And what can we do about it? Accept!
“Acceptance, as you might imagine, is where the power lies. We find control in acceptance. I can wash my hands. I can keep a safe distance. I can learn how to work virtually.”
So here we are – accepting and moving on because while we may be in a lock down, our hopes and beliefs aren’t!
Energizing Relationships
And while we are learning how to work virtually, it’s natural that you miss the energy of the colleagues around you. Social distancing for us social animals does not come easy! So we decided to switch to video huddles over Zoom which in a way helps to recreate the energy of the team and instil a better sense of bonding and togetherness. It helps in bringing back the “office atmosphere”, within the comfort of our homes!
Our current challenge relates to data downloading! Downloading heavy data in a non-commercial set-up can be problematic! A lot of time was being wasted in recharging data dongles and cards, due to the enormous size of files. So, we decided to give access to specific team members to the Amnet VPN server, which has made the data download a lot quicker, and erased the need for frequent data recharge.
Expecting more obstacles along the way … but together, we shall overcome! I am reminded of a quote by Sir Winston Churchill – “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”
As you begin this week, I have nothing but best wishes for you, your family members and team members! Stay Home. Stay Safe!
Regards,
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
Given this unprecedented situation of social distancing and lockdowns, I’m sure all of us are trying to make the best of what we have! WFH and makeshift conditions are not pretty, or smooth. From jockeying for internet bandwidth at home with your spouse and kids to tweaking of the regular workflow, to the need for bolstering morale and organizational pride in your team, the challenges are varied.
I would like to share with you a couple of challenges we faced in the past couple of days and how we addressed these.
Creativity in Action!
One crucial problem that was looming large was what happens to the server in case of power shut down. The server has a backup of 45 minutes and it’s crucial to switch on the generator within this time frame. In the work from home context, how do we know when the power is off! And who will switch on the generator?
But lo and behold! The thinking caps were on in a jiffy and Thomas Edison’s bulb lit up -both literally and figuratively! We came up with the idea of organizing a bulb in front of the CCTV camera (monitored continuously by the IT engineers). The moment the power is off the bulb would lit up and the IT engineer would alert our in-house electrician to switch the generator on. A room has been arranged for the electrician in close proximity to the office enabling him to have easy access during such emergencies.
This temporary phase is also weaving beautiful stories of collaboration and overcoming challenges!
There can never be a lockdown for imagination and innovation!
Signing off with this positive note…”The only limit to your impact is your imagination and commitment – Tony Robbins”
Regards,
Aashish Agarwaal
Founder and Managing Director
With the escalation of COVID-19 across the world, we recognize the importance of updating you on our practices for this challenging situation. We’ve been following the guidelines from the government and international public health authorities closely to monitor the situation, while continuing to the best of our capabilities to meet the delivery requirements and schedules.
In response to the guidance, we have adopted a series of measures. First and foremost, we’re focused on the health and safety of our colleagues, members, and that of our partners. We have put in action strict guidelines to try and prevent the spread, ranging from travel restrictions, remote working, mandatory use of sanitizers in and out of our facilities where our teams work, as well as equipping all facilities with noncontact type thermometers to monitor all individuals, especially those who show any symptoms of the infection. Masks have also been provided and we also have access to local physicians for further guidance.
In addition to the activation of our Business Continuity Plan, we have created an Emergency Response Team of select individuals and managers who are monitoring all of our facilities and members working from home, so as to ensure they address any requirement to enable uninterrupted processing of work. Given the rampant distribution of fear and rumor-laden news, we have also created a two-member team who are responsible for validating local and international updates from reputed sources and then sharing the updates on our internal messaging groups and intranet.
As your partner, I want you to know that we are committed to serving you to the best of our capabilities and the situation.
On a more positive note, this could also be a time for us to sharpen the saw, learn, connect, meditate, exercise more, and finally, show to ourselves, what we are capable of.
Please stay safe and please know, we are in this together!
