What do you say during a pandemic? And other lessons we’re learning.

It’s been more than one month since the Swng team started working from home. During this time, we’ve had to pivot from planning a huge production for SXSW to figuring out how to continue serving our clients & team while sheltering in place. These challenges are unprecedented, so they call for unprecedented solutions.  

We understand it’s difficult figuring out what to say during a pandemic to your friends and family, let alone your clients and employees. Even our team at Swng needed time to find the right words. 

Now that we’ve been living this “new normal” for nearly a month, we want to share some of the lessons we’re learning.

Lean on and give back to your community

Now more than ever before, our team is virtually connecting with friends, family, colleagues, and clients. From Zoom dance parties to simple text messages, we’re reaching out to check-in on people’s mental and physical health during these difficult times. 

As a team, we’re making it a point to be exceedingly honest about our own well-being. It’s important to be positive and hopeful, but we also have to admit when we’re struggling, so our support system can do just that—support us. 

As a company, we’re working on bringing our community helpful resources over the coming weeks from pitching virtual work to pivoting your messaging, and the occasional dog photo on Instagram just to brighten your day.

Pitch work that provides solutions

Now is the time to get creative and pitch work that provides solutions to problems stemming from the pandemic. Remember, you are the expert in your field, be proactive! While clients are focusing on countless other tasks, provide them a solution they might not think of on their own. 

For example one of our clients needed to continue producing high-quality webinars in order to support their customers with critical information. The solution needed to be scalable and user-friendly, so that webinar presenters could safely film from home.

We created an At-Home Film Kit that allows people to easily film on their phones. We also produced a step-by-step training video with a PDF manual for assembling gear, best practices for filming, and how to deliver their content. 

The pilot episode was a success, and now we are working with our client to continue streamlining the process.

Tune into what your mind and body needs, and give that to yourself

It’s easy to say, “Take this time to learn new things!” At the same time, it’s okay if you don’t walk away from this experience with a brand new skill or side hustle — what’s important is that you got through it. 

Some mornings, our team sleeps in while other days we’re working late. We’re making time to take walks in our neighborhoods to observe and be surrounded by nature.  

We’re also learning new things when we feel up to it! Cori has tried new recipes like homemade cinnamon rolls, stir fry, and bread is next on her list; Andrew is learning new functions of our Sony fx9 camera; and Alex is taking online movement training courses.  

Many brands are offering free resources like Nikon’s free online photography tutorials, various yoga and fitness livestreams, cooking classes, and more! Stay tuned for a blog with links to all of these great resources.

Action items to inspire

From these three lessons, here’s a list of thing action items to help inspire you:

 

• Send a simple text or DM to three people you haven’t talked to in a few weeks: “Hi, just thinking about you! Hope you’re doing well.”
• Write a blog or social media post with 2-3 of your favorite tips on any topic like cooking, work, art, music, anything that gets you excited. And share it!
• Reach out to your past and present clients to see what they’re struggling with most. Brainstorm creative solutions and pitch them!
• Find a free educational resource and share it with friends and/or colleagues who are interested in that topic.
• Reignite your passion for an old hobby like watching online dance tutorials, play an old video game or board game from your childhood, or practice your highschool instrument.