Procol’s Covid-19 Announcement

Be Safe, Buy Safe!

As the uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic continues to unfold, we at Procol are keenly watching the situation as it develops. A global economic fallout from the current crisis is expected, but we believe we are well-equipped to handle it. Just as our clients are. Uncertain times require agile decision-making and courageous responses, which is why we are strongly committed to ensure your Procurement Process continues to function as smoothly as before without any interruptions.

Thousands of enterprises across the world are telling their employees to work from home globally. In line with the best practices around the world, we at Procol, have also instituted a ‘Work From Home’ Policy to warrant the well-being of our staff. Ensuring the safety of both our and our clients’ employees is critical to us hence we have developed the best possible processes to ensure that our teams are able to serve our clients remotely without missing a beat.

Even in this time of crisis, ensuring excellence is of paramount importance to us. Every effort is being made to make sure that the Covid-19 pandemic does not disrupt Procol’s ability to meet our commitments with our clients. Our standard operating procedures have been further streamlined to ensure that we continue to deliver the high standards our clients have come to expect of us.

This is also a moment to reflect on the reach and ability of technology to transform processes. We are witnessing a watershed moment in history, as we are forced to adapt to these circumstances. It is because of the advent of technology that responses like Social Distancing are even possible. Only a few short years ago, living, studying,working remotely wouldn’t even be considered as a feasible option. But today, as working from home continues to become a necessity, we are proud to be able to serve in our own little way.

Procol Purchase brings all stakeholders of a company on to our transparent platform. Buyers can semi-automate daily tasks like RFQs and drawn out negotiations with multiple vendors and instead focus on ways to deal with more consequential problems the company is facing right now.

It can be challenging to manage a team which is working from home. Calls, video calls and emails can supplement but never truly replace having everyone in the same room working collaboratively to achieve the company goals. Through our platform’s transparency and accountability, managers can monitor performances of individual auctions and team members alike, enabling them to stay in sync.

“When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters — one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” – John F. Kennedy

Every crisis brings a new opportunity. While these are difficult waters to navigate, the companies that make it through will be the leaders of tomorrow. And the more prepared we are, the better our chances of coming through unscathed. Business leaders need to make difficult decisions and ensure an agile and vehement response. These are not easy calls to make, but having all your procurement data recorded and centralized will help them make those calls. These are the advantages to have in this market.

As stated above, Procol is committed to serving our clients in every possible way and our responsibilities do not end with just delivering the best possible experience every time you procure through our platform. We are working tirelessly to help everyone stay safe while at the same time continuing to serve you.

We see ourselves as an extension of our clients. Hence, we are sharing our own Work From Home Process and attaching a list of online resources that employers and employees can use to make work from home as efficient as possible.

Hopefully, these will help you stay healthy during one of the worst pandemics in human history. Be Safe, Buy Safe!

Procol’s Work From Home Policy:

• Follow and adhere to basic work protocols in order to ensure maximum productivity. Be online on slack during the work hours and mark yourself offline if you are not available.

• Create a routine that works for you, an established schedule allows you to focus on work.

• Conduct video calls for meetings. Cameras enable us to feel more connected and engage in a better way.

• Create a boundary between work and personal life. Align with your respective managers and define the working hours. Answering routine emails would impede your ability to replenish.

• Limit touchpoints while you are outside. Do not touch your face when you are outside, preferably wear a mask and glasses, and wash hands thoroughly (with soap & for 20 secs) before touching the face or having food.

• After agreeing on how to work with each other remotely, keep each other accountable to this communication process. Leverage tools and technology to keep the work visible. Keep track of the ownership of specific action items to keep people honest about meeting their obligations to the group.

• Work from home might be a new way of working for some. Be open about the rules and ways of working. Continually, look for ways to make things better. Check to make sure that the rules and team norms that you established at the start, lead to the outcomes you intended. If not, adjust them.

• Continue to monitor recommendations from the WHO, MoHFW, and elected officials in order to remain up-to-date on the latest information and safety protocols.

Procol’s recommended list of online resources:

Communication

• Zoom
  Zoom brings video conferencing, online meetings and group messaging into one easy-to-use application.

• Loom
  This screen and video recording software has removed limits, slashed its prices and made it free for educational purposes.

• Join.Me
  Join.Me gives you the option of audio and video calls along with letting you share screen with others.

• Google Suite
  Google is giving free access to advanced G-Suite features.

• Microsoft Teams
  Microsoft Teams is offering a free six-month trial of the more advanced version of the app.

• Jing
  Jing allows you to create screencasts of up to five minutes.

• Slack
  Slack allows real-time chat and countless integrations to cut down on your emails.

• Workplace by Facebook
  Workplace by Facebook includes messaging, voice and video calling, and newsfeed features to help teams work together more efficiently.

• Igloo
  The Digital Workplace mobile app by Igloo gives your workforce instant access to the most important conversations, content, and expertise.

• LumApps
  It is a social, mobile and smart intranet to connect and engage all employees.

• SAP Jam
  A cloud based enterprise collaboration tool that helps to engage people internally and externally to people outside their organization.

• SoCoCo
  Sococo is the online workplace where distributed teams come to work together each day, side-by-side. No matter where team members might be

• Mural
  Digital workspaces for visual collaboration, inspiration and innovation

• Status Hero
  Status Hero tracks daily goals, activity logs from tools, and status updates from team, all in one place

Productivity

• TomatoTimer
  It uses the Pomodoro Technique to stop your time and remind you to take your necessary breaks.

• Toggl
  Toggl helps you keep track of how long it’s really taking you to complete tasks.

• Chrome Remote Desktop
  It allows you to access your computer securely from any device and screen share with teammates.

• Zapier
  Zapier automates the process of switching between applications.

• Serene
  Serene helps you cut out distractions, helps you stay focused and complete tasks faster.

Health

• Seven
  Seven challenges you to do a quick but very intense 7-minute workout.

• Tide
  It is a meditation app which provides you with tones and guided meditations.

• Cult.fit
  It is a fitness application focused on training programmes that use no machines or equipment.

Learning

• Unacademy
  It allows you to take any number of courses from various topics.

• EdX
  It hosts online university-level courses

• Udemy
  Online learning platform aimed at professional adults and students

• Coursera
  It offers courses from top universities like Yale, Michigan, Stanford, and leading companies like Google and IBM.