The city survival guide for businesses: how to prepare for the worst

Living and working in a large city is usually an interesting, exciting experience. There’s a general feeling that you’re at the centre of everything: tasting the freshest cuisines, listening to the newest music and absorbing as much culture as possible through museums, live shows, even aimless walks through an unfamiliar part of town.

 

Image source: Flickr Creative Commons

Arguably, at the same time, cities can be the worst place to work: long, crowded commutes, overpriced takeaway lunches and simply keeping up with the constant hustle and bustle. You’re at the mercy of the city and sometimes it throws you a curve ball: train disruptions (and strikes!), unbearable heat waves or numbing cold fronts and ear-splitting construction work.

Image source: Flickr Creative Commons

Prepare yourself for the worst: here are three scenarios common in big cities all around the world and what your business can do in anticipation.

SCENARIO: Train staff go on strike, shutting down services for an entire day (looking at you, London!). The buses are still running, but they’re so crowded that being able to squeeze on one isn’t looking likely. Either way you look at it, it’s going to take you ages to get to and from work. What to do?

SOLUTION: Why even go into the office at all? One easy solution for businesses to continue operating is by remote working. Let everyone work from home for the day, or at least for those who aren’t able to make it into the office easily. In this day and age where most people own a smartphone, a laptop or a tablet (and in some cases, all three), it’s incredibly easy to stay connected. You can schedule and hold your meetings as normal with a video-conferencing app like GoToMeeting. The app works on mobile devices as well, so you can join a call or video-conference wherever you are, whether you’re at home, stranded on a train platform or waiting for that illusive bus.

SCENARIO: All of a sudden, a disgusting heatwave has descended on the city (again, looking at you London). Your office doesn’t have air conditioning and the open windows are somehow making things even hotter. How can you focus on work when you’re sweating in places you didn’t even know existed?

SOLUTION: First of all, stay hydrated. Sounds like an obvious statement, but studies have shown that being dehydrated by as little as 3 percent can impact your concentration, judgement and reaction time. So make sure you are refilling that water bottle constantly.

Second, have a few portable fans, and (most importantly) make sure they’re working before the heat wave hits. Station them around the office (or give everyone personal desk fans like these): it’s no replacement for air conditioning, but at least it will keep some circulation going.

Third, have an emergency stash of ice lollies for that 3pm slump when everyone needs a pick-me-up.

SCENARIO: You have a big client meeting today, which has inconveniently coincided with some deafening construction work going on in the street outside. It’s impossible to hear anything but this meeting has been planned for weeks and the client is already on her way. What to do?

SOLUTION: Have a list of cafes, restaurants or parks that are relatively quiet/WiFi capable/relatively office adjacent that you can escape to if needs be. Scope out the surrounding streets on your lunch breaks and make some notes on noise levels/space availability so you won’t be panicking if you ever find yourself in this situation. And check out this list of ways to find free Wi-Fi on the go.

 

So there you have it. Just a few simple tips to help you take on whatever the city might throw at you this summer, and with the impending London Tube strike in August, it might be wise to keep these in mind…