Some companies’ profits have soared; other companies have gone bankrupt. Some people have continued to travel daily to their place of work; others have been able to shuffle to the kitchen table. Some people have thrived through the lockdowns; others have really struggled.
Very much like the GP I saw when I was first pregnant who asked ‘Are you happy to be pregnant?’, nowadays, I never assume how anyone feels. I’ve even been cautious with friends I have known for years. Letting them talk about what’s going on with them as opposed to presuming I know.
“I think we all agree we cannot live through a screen alone.”
I spent October and November travelling round the home counties visiting my team members. It was vital that I saw each of them in person and had that time to talk. Not necessarily about business (and actually, only a small percentage of what we spoke about was business) but more about what has been going on with them this year.
[And as many of those visits took place in lockdown, I was treated to walks in the countryside – so not only was I nourished by conversation, but my pedometer enjoyed the extra thousands of steps it could record on each visit.]
This year living our lives online has become the norm. And yes, speaking to people through the multitudinous video platforms available does allow us to keep connected, but I think we all agree we cannot live through a screen alone.
“As an agency, we have always championed face to face tuition. Even if a client has asked for online tuition, we have tried (at least before Covid) to engineer a in-person meeting so there was a moment to connect, person to person.”
Online tuition is effective. Tutors have become adept at incorporating many different interactive apps into their lessons to keep students engaged and learning. It has been exhilarating that tutors have continued teaching students through these restrictions when they haven’t been able to teach in-person. However, we are all yearning for the day when tutors can return safely to family homes and go back to the days of working side by side with students.
Lucy Cawkwell, Founder & Managing Director
