I used to oppose the idea of remote work...
I've had negative encounters with Odoo employees in the past, and I've also heard stories from friends about it being abused in their companies. While I recognized its potential productivity, I was apprehensive about the potential drawbacks. Consequently, we didn't have any work-from-home policies at Odoo.
In the span of just one week, we transitioned from having four employees working remotely to having 700 employees doing so, almost overnight. Surprisingly, it's proven to be highly effective! Everyone is operating at maximum efficiency, and collaboration remains strong. Productivity has not declined over the past five days.
Yesterday, I managed to meet with 12 different teams in under two hours, and each of them brought me up to speed within just a few minutes.
Every crisis presents opportunities, and ours was to enhance our remote operational capabilities.
If there's a single company well-suited for remote work, it's Odoo. We've been fully paperless for years, with all our activities, from HR to operations, finance to sales, conducted online.
Furthermore, digitizing companies is at the core of our business, and we offer remote services to our clients as well.
Our mission has consistently been to provide tools that enable employees to work smarter, thereby enhancing overall productivity for companies. This objective is now more crucial than ever.
Below are a series of initiatives we've initiated to assist companies:
Regarding educational institutions
Odoo eLearning is freely available as open source software. In support of schools and universities in conducting online courses, we offer complimentary support and hosting for unlimited students, indefinitely. Feel free to explore our platform on our own eLearning portal.
To begin, reach out to Charline at clo@odoo.com.
Regarding private enterprises
In order to assist you in digitizing all operations, we're extending a 50% discount on the initial success pack service for all SMEs. Our team of experts is ready to guide you in transforming your company for the better, covering areas such as electronic signatures, collaboration tools, project management, social marketing, HR apps, and more.
We aim to contribute by ensuring that SMEs can afford their digitalization efforts. Our project managers operate remotely, enabling us to commence promptly.
To request a demo, arrange an online meeting with one of our experts.
Please be aware that Odoo remains free for one application. Whether you require a document management system, an electronic signature app, a website, a CRM, or any other, simply begin at https://odoo.com/start.
Additional recommendations for navigating the COVID-19 crisis
Below are some immediate actions you can take to streamline your remote work setup.
- In terms of communication, Discord has proven to be an excellent tool, as its voice channels mimic office rooms seamlessly. It's free and can be configured within minutes.
- To support our employees with children, we purchased school exercise books. This allows our colleagues to efficiently manage their work while ensuring their children remain engaged. (I provided my children with a schedule similar to that of school, and they didn't interrupt me at all over the past few days.)
- We conduct brief daily meetings, lasting five minutes each, with individual teams to review objectives and accomplishments. This approach ensures ongoing communication and accountability among team members. Thus far, it has proven effective.
- We suggest avoiding mixed teams; if some team members are still working from the office, they should join meetings via their laptops using the same channel as the rest of the team. It simplifies coordination when everyone is remote. This is the primary reason why, during this crisis, remote work has proven to be more efficient than our previous experiences.
- Amidst every crisis, there are opportunities; it's crucial to discern which ones to seize. Despite reducing our marketing expenses, we opted to accelerate the recruitment of developers. With few companies actively recruiting, now is the opportune time to do so.
In times as challenging as these, we all yearn for positive news. Here's an update on our office in Hong Kong, which initiated lockdown measures two months prior to ours:
- On January 26, in response to a partial lockdown, all employees transitioned to remote work. (prompt action by the government)
- On February 27, employees were permitted to return to work in shifts, adhering to social distancing guidelines and basic safety protocols.
- In January, our sales team fell short of their target, but in February, every member met or exceeded their goals! It appears that business has returned to its usual rhythm.
I hope you're doing well during these challenging times. Please remember to prioritize your safety and well-being, as well as that of your loved ones. Take care.