NEWPORT – A4 Architecture Inc. founder and Managing Director Ross Cann says his firm is rotating its four-person staff in the office, so that two are working remotely at any given time to reduce face-to-face interaction.
That allows the business to continue pushing projects forward, so there will be work for contractors once the COVID-19 crisis subsides.
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“Architecture is a collaborative venture and reducing face-to-face contact necessarily reduces productivity as well,” he said. “Maintaining full productivity when a staff member has questions that could have been answered immediately if they were working in the office is a challenge that we are all facing.”
The company works on everything from high-end residences and renovations to commercial and hospitality projects for institutional work.
“One of our growing specialties had been creating boutique hotels and restaurants and transforming existing hospitality facilities into more spectacular and wonderful places,” Cann added. “These projects have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.”
PBN is asking local business owners and CEOs five questions, in a survey designed to understand how the new coronavirus has affected them and their businesses and what they have learned from the unprecedented challenges. Here are Cann’s responses:
How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis?
We are struggling to remain productive with half our personnel working from home on any given day. We are hampered by a very poor [internet] connection to our building which makes Virtual Private Network connection very difficult. We work off a central server and so making sure that all our project files are properly updated each day has become an additional challenge.
Have you found silver linings in these difficult times?
Not really, but we are being forced to upgrade elements of our technology to cope, which will hopefully have longer-lasting benefits, but that remains to be proven.
How are you maintaining your company culture?
People are the foundation of our operation and keeping them engaged and supported through this crisis is our main focus. Face-to-face camaraderie is out, so we are hoping the reservoir of good will and professional friendship carries us through to the other side of this COVID-19 crisis.
Did your business-continuity plan work or were there surprises?
The speed and severity of the COVID-19 crisis did catch us a bit by surprise. Our crisis plan was largely centered around backing up our computer server, not having to decentralize the office.
Do you have advice for other local companies?
Keep plugging away. The companies able to keep working during this difficult time are priming the economy for a faster recovery.
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer and researcher. He can be reached at shuman@pbn.com.
