Learning to Adapt After the Challenges of COVID-19 Within the Personal Injury Team.

Whilst doing some admin clearing out, I came across copies of my blogs written during the COVID-19 pandemic, which you may have read previously, and reading through them reminded me of the challenges that the world faced during that time which is already nearly five years ago but, in some respects, only feels like a few weeks ago!

It also has made me think about what lessons the pandemic has taught me and how things have changed, some things for the better and some not so much.

The lockdown in March 2020 brought the challenges of ensuring the delivery of vital legal services to my clients could be maintained, that important treatment could still be delivered, rehabilitation to ensure the best recovery as possible could still take place and that settlement of the claims, the ultimate goal, would still be possible in a reasonable length of time, despite the fact that in the very early days of the pandemic so much was uncertain.

We quickly learnt how to be adaptable. As a person who is generally not good with change, the challenge was embraced and the adaptations made. Working from home instead of the office, working different hours to usual office hours, and the introduction of the virtual platform, meeting new clients, and old, via Zoom, something I had not even heard of prior to the pandemic, arranging for rehabilitation and treatment via similar online platforms where appropriate, and holding internal and external meetings, again virtually even if only the top half of your body was dressed professionally.

As it became apparent the world was facing a significant challenge with the pandemic, it seemed to me that people started to be kinder towards each other, people who were able to get out and about would check in on neighbours who couldn’t, dropping off supplies on their doorsteps, during 'exercise hour' people would say “hello” to each other whilst maintaining the appropriate safety distance rather than simply walking past, there was less traffic on the roads with less rushing to and from different places, and the whole pace of the world slowed down allowing us the opportunity to spend more time at home with our families and take some time to actual appreciate them.

So where are we now, nearly five years on, and what lessons have I learnt, I have learnt that I can be okay with change and sometimes change is a positive thing. The introduction of the new working world with delivery of legal services using a virtual platform is beneficial to clients, as is the opportunity to have rehabilitation from the comfort of their own home; you can fit more meetings into a working week with the use of online platforms because you do not lose any time in travelling from place to place, and overall, this can improve the turnaround time in the lifetime of a case so that claims can be settled as swiftly as possible.

However, I have also learnt how quickly we seem to have adapted back to the pre-COVID way of life with the pace reverting back to people rushing from place to place, kindness towards each other forgotten, the checking in on your elderly neighbours also forgotten. It’s sad to see how quickly we have forgotten how we pulled together when facing the challenges of the pandemic. So another lesson for me is to remember those times and not let the pace of life take over. There is always time for kindness and respect.

I am back working in the office, with home being home, and work being work, which means that where a client prefers, they can still have face to face contact and meet me personally. Whilst the virtual working world definitely has its place, this is not in place of the opportunity to support your client face to face.

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