Our stories
Reimagining our approach to projects during lockdown
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted our firm’s ability to come together in times of crisis, finding new ways to collaborate and deliver for our clients. We’re proud of how effectively our people have been working from home, demonstrating impressive levels of adaptability. We put in place a number of measures to support them and ensure we could continue to successfully collaborate.
Setting the scene
When lockdown measures began in March, we were faced with a challenge: how would we continue to deliver our work while operating entirely remotely?
Fortunately, we were ahead of the curve.
In 2016 we invested in Google’s G Suite, a set of collaboration tools. Our aim in doing so was to build in the flexibility we needed for the future. During lockdown this technology proved itself essential to our firm’s continuity.
Overnight, our 22,000 people began working remotely, testing our IT infrastructure like never before. In the first 100 days of lockdown we clocked up over a million video conference meetings. And as our people turned kitchen tables, spare rooms or sofas into their workplace, our determination to do whatever was necessary to deliver for our clients shone through.
How we helped
Our Deals Tax team rose to the logistic challenges of lockdown with energy and enthusiasm.
With a team now working remotely across the UK, new project management technology and a dramatic increase in the use of Google Meet and Chat allowed the team to stay connected. And not just for project work - virtual socials and desktop aerobics helped keep wellbeing a priority.
Collaboration tools helped the team share knowledge and generate ideas. Google Jamboards and live documents allowed the team to collaborate across multiple timezones on high-profile transactions, delivering during very tight timeframes and demands.
What really stood out was the team’s enthusiasm to adapt and upskill in response to the immediate challenge of COVID-19. They welcomed the ability to deliver training and share technical tax insights coming out of the response to COVID-19 via video meetings with clients and the team. The team also took advantage of the digital upskilling opportunities, adapting incredibly quickly, embracing our new ways of working and setting a great example for the rest of the firm.
“We are very proud of how the team adapted to the challenges of COVID-19, quickly adapting and embracing the available tools and then re-imagining how we use those tools to ensure we could continue to deliver to our clients and remain connected as a team. The enthusiasm and engagement to try new ways of working and to share ideas and insight among the team and with clients has been impressive and positions us well as we continue on our transformation journey.”
Making a difference
The Deals Tax team took an energetic and innovative approach to one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced as a firm. They accelerated our ability to adapt by using any additional time they had to redesign traditional processes.
The ideas the team generated over the lockdown period are helping to shape how we plan to transform as a business, in terms of the delivery of our client work and the development of our people.
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