6 Hours WIth No Internet
Yesterday for 6 hours, Tasmania was cut off from the world when we lost internet access. I saw the absolute desperation on people's faces - credit cards would not work, Netflix was offline, and forget checking Facebook!
The state was in chaos.
Apparently, a civil contractor in Melbourne had forgotten to dial before they dug and severed one of the two Telstra data cables that run across Bass Strait and connect Tassie to mainland Australia.
And in an unrelated incident, road construction crews here in the state had just done a similar thing to the second cable.
You wouldn’t read about it!
In our Launceston office, work ground to a halt during what had been a busy day. But once the novelty had worn off (and we’d all had a coffee), reality sunk in.
The emails would be piling up and calls would be going unanswered, and we hate letting clients down.
Providing exceptional customer service is part of our DNA - and when a voice over is needed urgently and our clients are under pressure, we want to be able to deliver.
Shifting Gears
That’s when our team really shone. Without any prompting, those who still had the internet shifted gears.
Fortunately, some of our team are not based in Tasmania, and their internet access was unaffected.
Even though it wasn’t their job, producers (who weren't in Tassie) stopped producing voice overs and started responding to emails.
If you’d sent an urgent job, they were onto it.
Client service staff went home to use satellite internet (thanks Elon Musk) and worked their tails off.
And when the internet was finally restored to Tasmania, more of our people worked into the night to ensure that clients would get their jobs back, when they needed them.
Jobs were processed, voice overs were booked, and audio mixes scheduled.
No one said, “but that’s not my job”. They just rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in.
Not Just Written On The Wall
Most businesses spend time developing a vision statement and company values that they hope shape their culture.
But when a business grows and employs more staff, it can be hard to have the growing staff ‘buy in’ to these values.
One of our company values is to ‘Live Generously’ - and to be team players who always bring our best.
Our best work, our best attitude, our best selves. Yesterday, when the internet was down and most of us weren't able to work, those who could definitely brought their best!
As a business owner, it warms my heart to see that this value is not just written on the wall, it’s something that our people actually live by when the rubber hits the road.
