Spartan Blockchain Solutions Amidst The Pandemic: An Operations Update
Much like many student organizations and firms alike, Spartan Blockchain Solutions has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The routines of our members, the processes of our developers, and the communication between leadership has shifted dramatically in the past five months in order to adapt to the ever-changing situation.
However, SBS has managed to maintain productivity and output even amongst the many obstacles created by the virus.
The core advantage the firm possesses compared to many other organizations is the ability to work on projects remotely with ease. Due to Blockchain being a completely online function, analysts, project managers, and executive leadership have all been able to continue their work with little to no transitory issues.
“Because of the fact that nearly all of our work is on our personal computers, I feel like we’ve fared a lot better than some other firms that may rely on in-person collaboration.” Vice President of Technology Tyler Weisner said. “Most of our collaboration has always been in chat rooms and other online channels anyway.”
That’s not to say team members haven’t had to work through difficulties. The process of moving the entire firm online has created anxiety for every individual. Many project managers and analysts had grown accustomed to seeing their team in-person up to two times a week, and the rapid switch to online communication came with many misunderstandings, technology troubles, and hasty rescheduling to adapt to everyone’s new schedule.
“Those first few weeks especially were tough. Everyone was in a different situation, and getting everyone on the same page gave me a lot of headaches as a project manager,” Weisner said. “Everyone in the organization was committed to making it work. Everyone played a part in keeping everything intact.”
Now, the firm is looking towards a new semester, and the challenges that come with it. For instance, the in-person events scheduled for the upcoming semester pose a hurdle. According to Weisner, the firm is looking into options to move the events into an online “teleconference” of sorts.
“Nothing’s set yet, but we’ve discussed moving our new events online in order to give the opportunity to network and learn that our events in the past have always offered,” Weisner said.
With the suspension of in-person student organization conventions, recruiting will also take a different form in the upcoming months.
Luckily, a new marketing team, including Vice President of Marketing Akbar Zaidi and Executive Editor Olivia Simone, is taking the challenge head-on. Marketing campaigns are being revamped for online students. Once again, the online-heavy nature of the firm serves to make the transition into this new frontier of recruiting and marketing a bit smoother.
“Our main source of recruiting was often Sparticipation and other in-person events. With those being moved online, we must adapt our previous recruiting strategies to an online format,” Zaidi explained. “Luckily, recruiting and marketing alike are really easy to do this with.”
One thing is certain: SBS will continue to adapt to the woes of the COVID-19 pandemic. The executive leadership, project managers, and analysts have pledged to continue to support the stakeholders, clients, and team members with the same enthusiasm that has defined the firm from the beginning.
To keep up with new developments regarding these uncertain times within SBS and the world, follow Spartan Blockchain Solutions on Instagram and LinkedIn.
