Over the past three months Woolacotts Consulting Engineers have remained proactive in prioritising the safety and wellbeing of staff, their families and our clients. The reality of COVID-19 encouraged our team to re-think our working arrangements, our internal processes and how we deliver professional services to clients. As we return to our respective offices this month, after a substantial period of working from home, we thought it important to share insight into how our processes evolved during this time and what we have done to support our clients.

When social distancing restrictions were first implemented nation-wide back in March, Woolacotts Consulting Engineers were quick to establish well-resourced work from home arrangements for our staff. This ensured that our team could remain fully operational to meet client needs, whilst also protecting the health of staff and their families.

Featured above: Woolacotts Consulting Engineers staff working from home

To ensure that our delivery of our services remained unchanged, we implemented the following:

• Training of staff in the use of Microsoft Teams, Blue Jeans and Zoom video conferencing for the purpose of conducting remote meetings with staff and clients

• We established physical and Remote DaaS (Desktop as a Service) platforms for our local and remote teams

• All essential physical meetings and site inspections were conducted with strict adherence to cleanliness and social distancing requirements

• An increase in our use of photographs to confirm compliance of work on siteAs stated by Scott Clemmett, Woolacotts Principal Structural Engineer:

Coming out the other side of COVID-19, our team observed some positive changes to the way we operate. As stated by CAD Manager, Brett Jovanovich:

Our staff have begun returning to their offices under each state’s guidelines, with the flexibility to work locally or remote as required. As such, Woolacotts have adopted a hybrid model, as we blend our remote teams with in-office ones. In doing so, we have broadened our reach to clients with remote teams now established on the NSW Central Coast and Western Sydney, QLD Gold Coast. With this flexibility, our employees also no longer have to endure long and stressful commutes and have an improved work-life balance.”

Woolacotts Consulting Engineers were also pleased to learn that one of our own, Civil Engineer Alexander Phillips, obtained his Charter Professional Engineer qualification (CPEng) during this time. Applications were also been submitted by Senior Civil Engineer James Georgiades and Structural Engineer Alvin Yu. In addition, we were also delighted to hear of the arrival of Alexander Phillips new son Charlie during our time of working from home.

We believe that our revised working arrangements and internal processes will be of much benefit to our staff, their families and our clients. As we return to our offices, Woolacotts Consulting Engineers will continue to monitor the advice of the Australian Government and medical authorities in relation to COVID-19 and act accordingly.

To learn more about our team and deliverables, visit our services page here.