For Joanne Tyler, owner and director of Essex-based legal firm Tyler Law, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented the most significant challenge of her career, putting her nigh twenty years of expertise in the legal sector to the ultimate test. Yet, from March to now, she has shrugged off the initial fear of uncertainty and is now looking forward to a positive future for both her and the firm. Speaking on the Leaders Council podcast, Joanne reveals how she was able to keep ahead of the curve before lockdown to be ready to take on the challenge and chart a course for her business to find its way through.
In a candid interview with the Leaders Council’s Scott Challinor, Joanne spoke of how she anticipated a need to close the doors of her business temporarily, but still became overwhelmed following the realisation that a national lockdown was called and restrictions would be in place for months as opposed to weeks.
She said: “Up until lockdown I would have said that Brexit was the biggest challenge of my career. But lockdown and Covid-19 has been extremely challenging for business and keeping staff and clients safe. It has affected every level of everyone’s life.
“I saw the way the curve of cases was going pre-lockdown and anticipated that we may have to close our office premises to limit infection and allow the business to keep operating. So, I immediately sent out letters to clients to state what we were going to do and how I would continue to press on with our work acting on their behalf. This way, they were prepared for how we would deal with things and there were not any sudden shocks from that perspective. I discussed with my staff how we planned to proceed and to get them all working from home. I foresaw closing my business and adapting to remote working, but I did not initially anticipate a national lockdown, and when everyone was prevented from moving, all of a sudden, I was still left concerned for my business.”
Despite having the operational advantage of having commenced home working prior to the lockdown, Joanne was still left with a significant challenge to overcome. Yet, following an honest discussion with her husband, she was determined to prove that the test was not insurmountable, and found that her firm’s status as a sole practice solicitor came as an advantage by way of flexibility.
She recalled: “I spoke to my husband and thought the best thing to do would be to keep grafting and working, and to look at the situation as an adventure, a fun challenge to overcome. I then took a proactive approach and I immediately stepped into the office, took a full audit of the business, spoke to partners in other legal firms to see what they were doing, and I realised I was ahead of many of them. As a sole practice solicitor, I was able to make decisions quickly and be more flexible, whereas others tended to have to consult partners before taking action.
“I pressed on with the full audit, calculated the income we could expect to have during lockdown, and then have a plan put together and ready to go for when we emerged. I avoided the stress of the situation by planning and taking those plans forward, making sure I was ahead of the curve again for when we emerged from lockdown.”
In Joanne's view, the ability to remain adaptable throughout her forward planning has been key to helping her business through the lockdown period and restart.
“One of my greatest strengths lies in having a goal to aspire to and a clear idea of where I want to be and being flexible in pursuit of that goal. I would urge anyone looking to make it in business to be flexible, think outside the box and be willing to change direction if suddenly things are not working and to try something else.
“Where I’ve been successful in building my business is in my ability to work around the typical rigid structures of firms operating in the legal field.”
Another message Joanne offered out during the interview in a rallying call to aspiring young leaders was to always plan for success and not consider failure as an option, even in times of difficulty.
She said: “If you plan for success and do not count failure as an option, then when things do not go quite right, you will have the resilience to find something that does work.
“The way I have planned through lockdown and am continuing to plan is to plan for the worst external impact but expect the best. I am hopeful for our future because since lockdown I have taken on a lot of work and government measures like the furlough scheme and bounce-back loans have offered us some breathing space. I have, therefore, been able to put my business continuity plan in place, we are going in the right direction, and I am constantly testing myself by pushing my personal boundaries. We plan for the worst so we are ready for anything, and the likelihood is it will play out better than anticipated.
“I feel ready. Whether national lockdowns, local lockdowns, or anything else comes our way, we will get there.”
This week, the Telegraph reported that the Welsh government opted to deviate from Westminster and continue to advise employees in Wales work from home “where possible”, as the UK government gets set for a ‘back to work’ drive.
The campaign to encourage staff to return to workplaces will be launched in tandem with the return of most schools in England and Wales, making it more practical for parents to go back to work.
The move has arisen following concern that businesses based in city and town centres are suffering from a lack of passing trade from commuters and workers.
A Welsh government spokesperson said: "In Wales, we continue to advise people to work from home where possible.
"We recognise, however, that there will be situations where there is a pressing organisational need for employers to ask staff to return to an office, or where employees feel working from home is impairing their wellbeing.
"Employers are under a duty to take all reasonable measures to minimise the spread of coronavirus, which will include ensuring they do not require staff to return to workplaces in the absence of a clearly demonstrated business need."
Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash
