We are back again with our ‘Spotlight’ series looking at how businesses that operated within the Rubicon prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, have adjusted to working from home. This week we spoke with Tricia Balfe, Co-founder and Head of Services of XMLdation, on how she and her employees are managing through this crisis.
XMLdation was established in 2009 and currently has teams operating from six different countries. XMLdation has grown to be the most recommended provider of development and onboarding services for standardized transaction messages: ISO 20022 XML, SWIFT MT and MX, JSON-APIs and others. They provide validation, simulation and message management SaaS, along with expert consulting and tailored project assistance.
Working from home can be challenging for many. Luckily for the team at XMLdation there was no swift change in the way they were operating – the majority of employees were already working remotely prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Tricia had been working in an office within the Rubicon prior to now, however keeping to a structured work day has allowed for the adjustment to happen without any major issues. The one big change that has come with working from home is the change in the stability of the Wifi. The network in the Rubicon worked much better than the internet provided at home.
Tricia believes it is important to not let your work life bleed into your home life and therefore it is important to establish a boundary between your working day and what’s going on in your house when working from home. In order to keep in touch with the Cork office there has been a movement to daily online conference calls in order to catch up and see what is happening with everyone. In a way they are lucky as remote work is not a new concept to the business overall.
When living in times of uncertainty it can be challenging to see the positive side of the situation we find ourselves in. Tricia finds joy in her surroundings and things that exist within her 5km that she was not previously aware of. These times have given us the opportunity to be appreciative of things we never would have noticed if we weren’t afforded the time that we have been.
While change wasn’t a big issue for XMLdation during this time some of their customers’ businesses slowed down as they tried to adapt to this new way of working. On the other hand, some customers were happy to conduct meetings remotely as this is something that had previously been done. For XMLdation one major issue to come from this crisis is the inability to attend trade shows. This previously acted as an outlet where they directly got to engage with their customers and potential customers.
Tricia’s main piece of advice for those who find themselves in a period of uncertainty, or now working from home when they previously did not is, “Change happens, relax into it.”. Not every uncertainty that happens to us should be viewed negatively. Opportunity can be found in every instance.
For more information on XMLdation and their work click here.
