Annual Strategic Planning
Eastvantage annually holds a strategic planning event by our operations team to kick off the year to reflect on the success and lessons learned from the past year and create strategies for improvements for the year ahead. 2020 has been a remarkable and challenging year and brought about changes that need to be faced head-on for the years ahead.
Perhaps the most obvious impact of the previous year is the new normal brought about by the pandemic to the work culture. Most of the businesses that can function with remote workers are now opting for a work from home setup, and to those who have skeletal and or in-office setup, social distancing and safety protocols are now in place. With regards to holding company events, this effectively limits the chances of creating large gatherings for employees.
The Hybrid Meeting
An effective solution to this is the hybrid meeting, where a part of the audience joins the meeting from the office, and another part joins remotely. Eastvantage first experimented with this approach during the Christmas Party, where the hosts lead the event from the office, with the rest of the associates joining the meeting from home online. Its success has opened doors to future meetings.
The new hybrid setup was successfully improved upon by the IT team, utilising Google Meet, multiple cameras, microphones, and speakers for a socially distant and interactive hybrid meeting. The presenters and audience were able to freely and smoothly communicate, as those on both ends can see and hear the presentation clearly, the presenter, and the people asking questions and contributing insights.
The Eastvantage Culture
This year’s strategic planning has been thoroughly planned. With around a dozen presenters and double the participants, the event was split into two days to ensure that the office space is maximised for social distancing. The presenter’s teams are in the office on their scheduled day of presentation, while the others join remotely.
Sharing a good meal and interaction between associates have always been part of Eastvantage’s annual strategic planning meetings and for this year, two separate team lunches were held, with strict adherence to social distancing and health protocols. Keeping the culture alive and bringing an effectively interactive gathering, the EV operations team couldn’t be any closer in a safe and socially distant setup.
