• Home
  • Daily Updates
    • News
    • Education Sector
    • Banking & Finance
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Healthcare
    • Infrastructure
    • Policies
    • Economy
    • Industrial
    • Startups
    • Innovation
    • Travel Food & Lifestyle
  • Academics
    • Results
    • Exams
    • Internship
    • Scholarship
    • Admission
    • Study Abroad
  • Ed-Leaders’ Corner
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Higher Education
    • K12
  • Jobs
    • Career Advice
    • Get a Job
    • Recruit
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Archive Edition
    • Subscription Form
  • Institutions
    • Engineering
    • Medical
    • Management
    • Finance and Accounts
    • Law
    • Humanities
    • Commerce
    • Science
    • Odd Vocation
    • Media and Journalism
    • Design
    • Hotel Management
    • Competition
    • Study Abroad
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Higher Education Plus
Advertisement
  • Home
  • Daily Updates
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Banking & Finance
    • Economy
    • Education Sector
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Expert Speaks
    • Healthcare
    • Infrastructure
    • News
    • Policies
    • Startups
    • Technology
    Siddhant Rishi Prabhakar

    Top 5 benefits of Self-learning

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    College Admissions Platform Leverage Edu closes 47 Cr ($6.5Mn) Series A

    College Admissions Platform Leverage Edu closes 47 Cr ($6.5Mn) Series A

    exam tips prep

    CHANGES IN NEET PG 2021 EXAM PATTERN: DOCTORS UNDER PRESSURE

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Residential School Education

    Residential School Education: Promoting independence and self-sufficiency for students

    Residential School Education

    IIT Roorkee launches Deep Learning Course at CloudxLab.com

    eLearning : the need of the hour

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    • News
    • Education Sector
    • Banking & Finance
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Healthcare
    • Infrastructure
    • Policies
    • Economy
    • Industrial
    • Startups
    • Innovation
    • Travel Food & Lifestyle
  • Academics
    • All
    • Admission
    • Exams
    • Internship
    • Results
    • Scholarship
    • Study Abroad
    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    exam tips prep

    CHANGES IN NEET PG 2021 EXAM PATTERN: DOCTORS UNDER PRESSURE

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    Madam-Grace-Pinto

    Can Technology Optimally Replace Physical Teaching?

    Ehsaas : First ever Online NGO Mela organised by Bhavan’s SPJIMR for artisans, NGOs

    Ehsaas : First ever Online NGO Mela organised by Bhavan’s SPJIMR for artisans, NGOs

    Focus on investments: P.C. Chhabra, Sanskriti University

    Technology to be the next game changer in education sector

    Dr Malini Saba

    The Good, Bad, and Ugly for Education Sector From Budget 2021

    • Results
    • Exams
    • Internship
    • Scholarship
    • Admission
    • Study Abroad
  • Ed-Leaders’ Corner
    • All
    • Higher Education
    • K12
    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    Expanding our definition of success

    Expanding our definition of success

    Ashoka Innovators

    Understanding the objective of fellowship is important

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    Madam-Grace-Pinto

    Can Technology Optimally Replace Physical Teaching?

    Focus on investments: P.C. Chhabra, Sanskriti University

    Technology to be the next game changer in education sector

    • Entrepreneurs
    • Higher Education
    • K12
  • Jobs
    • All
    • Career Advice
    • Get a Job
    • Recruit
    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Ashoka Innovators

    Understanding the objective of fellowship is important

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    Tremendous potential to uplift India’s schooling systems: Lina Ashar

    Tremendous potential to uplift India’s schooling systems: Lina Ashar

    Dr Malini Saba

    The Good, Bad, and Ugly for Education Sector From Budget 2021

    Shivram Choudhary, Founder, Codevidhya

    Tracing what education sector got in this year budget

    Focus on investments: P.C. Chhabra, Sanskriti University

    Budget shows positive growth: Dr. Srinivas Chunduru

    AI Education and Access to The Education System

    AI Education and Access to The Education System

    Indian education system needs an upgrade: Siddhant Rishi Prabhakar

    Indian education system needs an upgrade: Siddhant Rishi Prabhakar

    • Career Advice
    • Get a Job
    • Recruit
  • Events
    • All
    • Events
    bml munjal

    BML Munjal University in Partnership with Indian Academy of Management hosts workshop to encourage management research

    The next important event is the citywide teachers’ council!

    The next important event is the citywide teachers’ council!

    TiE Delhi-NCR partners with Brainfeed

    TiE Delhi-NCR partners with Brainfeed to host ‘India Education Entrepreneurship Day’

    40 college societies and students get a chance to showcase their talent with realme’s Campus Stars Programs

    40 college societies and students get a chance to showcase their talent with realme’s Campus Stars Programs

    media-partner for LPU’s ‘Volatile Consumer Behavior & Marketing’ Conference

    Brainfeed Higher Education Plus: media-partner for LPU’s ‘Volatile Consumer Behavior & Marketing’ Conference

    Centre for Continuing Education inaugurated at NIT, Jalandhar

    Centre for Continuing Education inaugurated at NIT, Jalandhar

    EdTalk by Brainfeed Higher Education Plus Organized in DAV University, Jalandhar

    EdTalk by Brainfeed Higher Education Plus Organized in DAV University, Jalandhar

    Young Achievers Honoured by ‘Brainfeed Higher Education Plus’ at DAVIET

    Young Achievers Honoured by ‘Brainfeed Higher Education Plus’ at DAVIET

    IIM Calcutta Convocation: 500 plus graduates to get degrees on April 6

    IIM Calcutta Convocation: 500 plus graduates to get degrees on April 6

  • Blog
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Archive Edition
    • Subscription Form
  • Institutions
    • Engineering
    • Medical
    • Management
    • Finance and Accounts
    • Law
    • Humanities
    • Commerce
    • Science
    • Odd Vocation
    • Media and Journalism
    • Design
    • Hotel Management
    • Competition
    • Study Abroad
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Daily Updates
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Banking & Finance
    • Economy
    • Education Sector
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Expert Speaks
    • Healthcare
    • Infrastructure
    • News
    • Policies
    • Startups
    • Technology
    Siddhant Rishi Prabhakar

    Top 5 benefits of Self-learning

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    College Admissions Platform Leverage Edu closes 47 Cr ($6.5Mn) Series A

    College Admissions Platform Leverage Edu closes 47 Cr ($6.5Mn) Series A

    exam tips prep

    CHANGES IN NEET PG 2021 EXAM PATTERN: DOCTORS UNDER PRESSURE

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Residential School Education

    Residential School Education: Promoting independence and self-sufficiency for students

    Residential School Education

    IIT Roorkee launches Deep Learning Course at CloudxLab.com

    eLearning : the need of the hour

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    • News
    • Education Sector
    • Banking & Finance
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Healthcare
    • Infrastructure
    • Policies
    • Economy
    • Industrial
    • Startups
    • Innovation
    • Travel Food & Lifestyle
  • Academics
    • All
    • Admission
    • Exams
    • Internship
    • Results
    • Scholarship
    • Study Abroad
    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    exam tips prep

    CHANGES IN NEET PG 2021 EXAM PATTERN: DOCTORS UNDER PRESSURE

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    Madam-Grace-Pinto

    Can Technology Optimally Replace Physical Teaching?

    Ehsaas : First ever Online NGO Mela organised by Bhavan’s SPJIMR for artisans, NGOs

    Ehsaas : First ever Online NGO Mela organised by Bhavan’s SPJIMR for artisans, NGOs

    Focus on investments: P.C. Chhabra, Sanskriti University

    Technology to be the next game changer in education sector

    Dr Malini Saba

    The Good, Bad, and Ugly for Education Sector From Budget 2021

    • Results
    • Exams
    • Internship
    • Scholarship
    • Admission
    • Study Abroad
  • Ed-Leaders’ Corner
    • All
    • Higher Education
    • K12
    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    NEP significantly raising educational investments

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    Post Covid businesses will need sales training: Gaurav Bhagat

    Expanding our definition of success

    Expanding our definition of success

    Ashoka Innovators

    Understanding the objective of fellowship is important

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    One education fund allotment, opinions many: Union Budget 2021

    Madam-Grace-Pinto

    Can Technology Optimally Replace Physical Teaching?

    Focus on investments: P.C. Chhabra, Sanskriti University

    Technology to be the next game changer in education sector

    • Entrepreneurs
    • Higher Education
    • K12
  • Jobs
    • All
    • Career Advice
    • Get a Job
    • Recruit
    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

    Ashoka Innovators

    Understanding the objective of fellowship is important

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    OMOTEC’s four young geniuses win laurels at IRIS National Fair

    Tremendous potential to uplift India’s schooling systems: Lina Ashar

    Tremendous potential to uplift India’s schooling systems: Lina Ashar

    Dr Malini Saba

    The Good, Bad, and Ugly for Education Sector From Budget 2021

    Shivram Choudhary, Founder, Codevidhya

    Tracing what education sector got in this year budget

    Focus on investments: P.C. Chhabra, Sanskriti University

    Budget shows positive growth: Dr. Srinivas Chunduru

    AI Education and Access to The Education System

    AI Education and Access to The Education System

    Indian education system needs an upgrade: Siddhant Rishi Prabhakar

    Indian education system needs an upgrade: Siddhant Rishi Prabhakar

    • Career Advice
    • Get a Job
    • Recruit
  • Events
    • All
    • Events
    bml munjal

    BML Munjal University in Partnership with Indian Academy of Management hosts workshop to encourage management research

    The next important event is the citywide teachers’ council!

    The next important event is the citywide teachers’ council!

    TiE Delhi-NCR partners with Brainfeed

    TiE Delhi-NCR partners with Brainfeed to host ‘India Education Entrepreneurship Day’

    40 college societies and students get a chance to showcase their talent with realme’s Campus Stars Programs

    40 college societies and students get a chance to showcase their talent with realme’s Campus Stars Programs

    media-partner for LPU’s ‘Volatile Consumer Behavior & Marketing’ Conference

    Brainfeed Higher Education Plus: media-partner for LPU’s ‘Volatile Consumer Behavior & Marketing’ Conference

    Centre for Continuing Education inaugurated at NIT, Jalandhar

    Centre for Continuing Education inaugurated at NIT, Jalandhar

    EdTalk by Brainfeed Higher Education Plus Organized in DAV University, Jalandhar

    EdTalk by Brainfeed Higher Education Plus Organized in DAV University, Jalandhar

    Young Achievers Honoured by ‘Brainfeed Higher Education Plus’ at DAVIET

    Young Achievers Honoured by ‘Brainfeed Higher Education Plus’ at DAVIET

    IIM Calcutta Convocation: 500 plus graduates to get degrees on April 6

    IIM Calcutta Convocation: 500 plus graduates to get degrees on April 6

  • Blog
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Archive Edition
    • Subscription Form
  • Institutions
    • Engineering
    • Medical
    • Management
    • Finance and Accounts
    • Law
    • Humanities
    • Commerce
    • Science
    • Odd Vocation
    • Media and Journalism
    • Design
    • Hotel Management
    • Competition
    • Study Abroad
No Result
View All Result
Higher Education Plus
No Result
View All Result

What COVID-19 taught us

Authored by Ms. Shreya Prakash, Co-Founder, FlexiBees

HEP Online Bureau by HEP Online Bureau
July 28, 2020
in Expert Speaks, Opinion
0
What COVID-19 taught us

I will cut to the chase. No point in introducing the pandemic and its many ominous credentials, it needs none.  

Looking back from the tail end of July, it seems like this year has been at least a decade long. There was that quote from Lenin doing the rounds a while back, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” Yes, this, exactly. 

 But now that the unlocks have started, businesses are slowly but surely creaking back to life, and demand is beginning to trickle in, we are not too upset at what we see. Yes, it was a difficult time, but one that had a few silver linings. One of these is the treasure trove of rich learning – some new, some validations of what we already believed – that has come our way. Seems like a good time to reflect.  

Learning #1: Client Satisfaction is a thing of beauty 

There was a point of time in March, when our contracts started getting cancelled. FlexiBees is a flexible talent hiring platform, and we provide experienced talent via cost-effective and time-optimised models – the fact that our talent is great value for investment reduced the number of cancellations. So, it was manageable. However, it did impact our first quarter results to a significant extent.  

That last week of March and the first week of April, we had clients come to us everyday asking to stop work from that very day itself. We do build in a bit of notice in our contracts so that it allows both the client and the talent to prepare themselves in case there is a dissolution. But these were exceptional circumstances, we decided internally to let go of any stipulations and clauses that we had all agreed to in dramatically different times, and extend all support to our clients in helping them wrap up operations quickly. We coordinated with the talent, coached them, absorbed their disappointment at times, and made it possible for the clients to “suspend” these contracts instead of terminating them if they so choose, to ensure they were able to quickly get back on their feet with the same talent and minimal disruptions when the time came. Through all this, we ensured none of these ended up being unfair to our talent.  

We felt overwhelmingly, the entire team, as one, that this was the right thing to do. Of course, we are not alone. Across industries, for businesses and for individuals, various people and entities have waived off and pushed out dues, choosing to take the humanitarian course of action. What I do want to record here is the satisfaction we experienced from being able to do right by our clients, which are businesses similar to us. Basically, this phase reinforced our belief that the true value of a business is delivered when it immerses itself in understanding the pain points of its customers at the deepest level.  

And happy to report that as of today, some of these suspended contracts have restarted.  

Learning #2: Our women have the willpower of Granite 

The pandemic was not just difficult for our clients, but also for our talent pool. Our talent pool comprises highly qualified women, most of whom are also mothers looking for a way to balance their professional and personal lives. As we all know today, the pandemic came bearing gifts of increased domestic workloads and childcare, as all help evaporated and schools & daycares shut down.  

Logically speaking, our talent should have been the first to buckle, with multiple pressures at home to manage, it stands to reason that they would find it hard to meet their professional commitments. However, we had very few instances of those, most of our women rolled up their sleeves, created detailed plans, delegated and enlisted other members of the household, and managed everything as smoothly as possible under the circumstances. So impressed were we by these intrepid women that we crowdsourced their methodologies and published a docket on managing work during the pandemic for our larger communities to benefit from.  

Learning #3: There is huge joy, and rewards in enabling  

We work primarily with start-ups, and soon after the lockdown, we started thinking about how we could help the ecosystem. We spoke with a few founders, and realised that many of them were putting some kind of fight to stay relevant, to adapt their products and offerings, their business models, to this new reality. We were not surprised, if there is a group of people known for their resilience, it is the entrepreneurial community.  

But it sparked off an idea by which we could play a part in their fight. We decided to lend our platform and our marketing skills in the hope of getting these businesses more eyeballs and business. We launched our “Let us help each other” series where we showcased businesses who were tackling Corona head-on, and spread it far and wide through our multiple channels. 

The series was well-received and most the businesses we showcased got attention and even business – a thing that fills us with joy. Of course, we also benefited in the process, by staying relevant ourselves, and in that way, this was a complete win-win.  

Learning #4: Intangibles contribute hugely to organisation success   

FlexiBees has been a remote organization since day 1, with our 22-member team working from different cities and even countries. We have never felt the need for an office space, and have overcome big challenges, brainstormed, hired, built, sought funding, grown, all while being fully and entirely remote.  

When the pandemic hit India, and everyone went into lockdown, we realised the wealth of knowledge we were sitting on. While many teams were struggling and naturally so, we put our energies behind creating guidelines that could help them transition smoothly to this new way of working. Apart from these guidelines that came from our own experience, we got in snippets and live examples from others who were living and mastering remote working in their organisations and through the months and even now going forward, continue to do “How to” pieces on everything from remote sales and remote reach-outs to remote interviewing to managing mental health while working from home.  

We had to dig deep to arrive at some of the reasons behind why it works for us, and the beauty lies in the things that are not often spoken of. Yes, there is technology and there are review mechanisms that make it easier but there is also a highly transparent culture and a very engaged team that lies at the heart of what makes us tick. We learnt much about ourselves through this time, the things we were doing right without even realising it. If you are a business that has built something of value, chances are you are doing many many more things right than you give yourself credit for.  

Learning #5: Team love is real  

And last but most definitely not the least, we learned what having team love means. As we all know the start-up ecosystem has been very badly hit due to the pandemic with thousands of job losses. We were clear from the beginning that we did not want to let anyone go. We have built this team from scratch, each person great at the job they do, and very importantly, very passionate about the space we operate in. 

We were surprised by how much the team gave back. For a couple of months, with not too much new business coming in, the vibe was not great. We even had to implement a pay cut in order to manage our expenses till the time business was impacted. It was a difficult decision for us, knowing full well the significance of financial freedom. But no person, not a single one, gave up. In spite of various pressures at home due to the lockdown, and at work, they visibly and vocally committed themselves to the cause of getting FlexiBees back on the growth path again. They extended themselves for the company, for us, for the purpose, and we cannot thank them enough for retaining the enthusiasm and the passion even when times were the toughest.  

Good teams have skills, great teams have the skills and a never-say-die attitude. And this latter is the make or break ingredient for any growing business. 

It seems like the worst is behind us now. We are relieved and proud of having survived without many casualties, especially being a bootstrapped company. The business took a temporary hit but seems to be on the path to recovery now. For the last two months now we have been seeing a hugely increased lead flow, with new use cases and needs that the pandemic, unfortunate though it is, has unlocked. There are still challenges that will stay a while as long as the economy as a whole doesn’t revive. But we are hopeful of a short, mid and long term future where our offerings are hugely relevant and help businesses grow competitively and affordably. 

Previous Post

AICTE releases Approval Process for the year 2020-21

Next Post

Young Video Gamers should control 'addictive' in-app purchases

HEP Online Bureau

HEP Online Bureau

Related Posts

Siddhant Rishi Prabhakar
Expert Speaks

Top 5 benefits of Self-learning

February 25, 2021
NEP significantly raising educational investments
Academic Alerts

NEP significantly raising educational investments

February 25, 2021
Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools
Career Advice

Blended learning is an important pedagogy for B-Schools

February 24, 2021
IIT Roorkee launches Deep Learning Course at CloudxLab.com
Expert Speaks

eLearning : the need of the hour

February 23, 2021
Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity
Blog

Good Governance, a way for ensuring sustainability and inclusivity

February 19, 2021
Raaji Naveen
Expert Speaks

Time to raise a self-thinking and reasoning generation: Heutagogy is the way

February 19, 2021
Next Post
digital workforce

Young Video Gamers should control 'addictive' in-app purchases

technology

Madhya Pradesh UG, PG final year exams to be held via Open Book System

Highereducationplus

Higher Education Plus

© 2019 Higher Education Plus

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Brainfeed Group of Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Daily Updates
    • News
    • Education Sector
    • Banking & Finance
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Healthcare
    • Infrastructure
    • Policies
    • Economy
    • Industrial
    • Startups
    • Innovation
    • Travel Food & Lifestyle
  • Academics
    • Results
    • Exams
    • Internship
    • Scholarship
    • Admission
    • Study Abroad
  • Ed-Leaders’ Corner
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Higher Education
    • K12
  • Jobs
    • Career Advice
    • Get a Job
    • Recruit
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Archive Edition
    • Subscription Form
  • Institutions
    • Engineering
    • Medical
    • Management
    • Finance and Accounts
    • Law
    • Humanities
    • Commerce
    • Science
    • Odd Vocation
    • Media and Journalism
    • Design
    • Hotel Management
    • Competition
    • Study Abroad

© 2019 Higher Education Plus

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In