It is a stressful period. “We all want to protect ourselves and our families from what is still a new and unknown disease,” as PM Lee shared. In fact, there have been a few articles about how the outbreak of the coronavirus is posing a challenge to many businesses globally.

But there is no need to panic. We can still minimise loss and restore normal operations.

We have visited our PR partner, Asia PR Werkz to learn about the Business Continuity Plans (BCP) they implemented, as well as their thoughts on the current outbreak.

How to Maintain Productivity and Efficiency while implementing the BCP

“We have a total of 6 teams, consisting of 45 staff. Each team has been divided into Team A and Team B to work remotely or in office,” said Ms Anu Gupta, Director at Asia PR Werkz.

In her team, there are almost three staff dedicated to each client, allowing the team to work closely with and cover each other. In this way, the team members have to work collaboratively instead of independently, and have to share the work process, too.

“In PR, communication is the key. We need to talk to each other when we work within the teams.
“In my case, three-team leads drive accounts, and arrange daily morning calls [to keep communication active].”

How to Protect the Safety and Health of the Employee

Disease control and prevention are just as important as keeping productivity high, if not more. “We are running temperature checks for both staff and visitors, twice a day,” said Ms Neha Khare, Admin & HR Executive. “We have a tracking sheet of employee’s body temperature so that we can spot the difference easily.”

“There are multiple entry points in our office, but all staff have been advised to enter via one entrance to facilitate temperature check when they come to the office.”

Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the FinTech Industry

But how has this outbreak affected work overall?

Anu’s portfolio consists mostly of start-ups, SMEs and fintechs. So far, she has not seen many threats to businesses. “I have not faced difficulties in arranging meetings with my clients.”

“Of course, it depends on companies and industries. For example, a lot of media’s interviews have been changed to teleconferences. But so far, I have not seen much impact on start-ups or the fintech industry.

“We have to be cautious, but work has to move on.”