Delano heard on Thursday from Nicolas Mackel, CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the government-backed promotion body.
AG: When did you start telecommuting as a covid-19 precaution?
NM: We decided last week to implement teleworking, first on Thursday by offering our commuting colleagues, then on Friday all parents of young children, and finally, as of Sunday, everybody, to work from home.
For some it is easier than for others. Having very young kids at home can make teleworking illusory. They are grateful for the special holidays granted in this situation. My kids are teenagers and thus have offered a non-aggression pact where they will let me work if I don’t interfere too much with their screen abuse... I have even taken up doing some exercise again on my home trainer.
Nicolas Mackel seen in his home office. Photo provided by Nicolas Mackel
What are your most widely used telecommuting tools or applications?
Prior to covid-19, I was used to managing my work as well as staying in touch with my team from a distance because of my extensive travel schedule. However, the challenge now is that none of the colleagues are in the office and so some tasks are difficult to execute. We have taken to group-chatting via Whatsapp, video-conferencing via Webex meetings and calls via Facetime.
How do you make telecommuting work for you?
Even if the situation is extraordinary, we go about our work. Our communication team is still running our different channels (website, social media, etc), albeit with an obviously adapted content. Our business development colleagues are taking advantage of this time to revise our brochures and to develop new ones. Our events team is managing the consequences of the events we have had to cancel and preparing those we still are confident can take place.
Overall, we are following closely the economic and financial fallout of this crisis and starting to think how we need to react to it in terms of positioning Luxembourg’s main economic activity for the aftermath.