Zak Mroueh, Founder, Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto talks about business during COVID19
How has COVID19 affected your business?
We’re in the business of creating ideas. Conceiving them requires human interaction and constantly working with others. Most of the time, this type of ideation happens through collaboration. And collaboration often happens in person. This all changed once we started working from home. Like every business, we’ve also felt the financial effects with the economy currently at a stand-still.
How are your teams working and communicating during such times?
When the news began to break that companies were starting to close, we mobilized quickly. On Thursday, March 12th we made the decision to have everyone work from home, and the next day we were fully operational. As a company, we’ve always invested in technology and our IT team began putting measures in place well before things began to escalate. I’m amazed at the new normal we’ve created – regular companywide check-ins through video or conference calls, daily huddles with our creative teams – ensuring that everyone is managing as best they can during this crisis.
Systems and processes have seen new changes. Do you feel the new way of working will change the way we worked in offices?
I think most companies are probably questioning how they will use physical space in the future. I still believe an office hub is needed, but we won’t need as much of it as we once thought. Even after we return to a sense of normalcy in the future, for a period of time people will be less reluctant to gather in large groups, attend conferences and greet each other with handshakes. Working from home and offering more flexibility to staff will become the norm and a welcomed change for employees.
How are you helping your local community during such times?
As a creative agency, we’re not on the frontlines, or manufacturing life-saving products. We don’t provide an essential service. So we put our collective efforts together to create an open source #stayhome campaign for anyone in the community to use or share. It’s meant to be a collaborative tool. We released it to the world and have already seen early adoption. We’ve been able to secure TV time slots and billboards to do our small, miniscule part to help spread the word.
This is a once in a lifetime event for all of us, do share your reason for optimism?
I hope this is a once in a lifetime event. Since the start of the pandemic, it’s made me appreciate the little things again. Cleaning up the garden, going for a walk with my dog and enjoying a family meal together at the dinner table. I try to maintain optimism by reminding myself and my staff to put things in perspective. On the positive side, we don’t live in a war-torn country, we have roofs over our heads, we have enough food and we have an empty office full of toilet paper if anyone runs out.
Zulu Alpha Kilo is a creative agency based out of Toronto. For more information kindly contact : https://www.zulualphakilo.com/
This story is written and edited by Yugbodh, for The Onside Media, Canada, If you have stories to share kindly email: – info@theonside.com
