After more than two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, it can be hard to quantify the ways in which we have changed. Our pandemic coverage helps us understand the industry impact, and it seems unlikely that any of our content has been untouched by the unique circumstances that have taken root since the start of 2020.

But so much of that change has occurred at a human level, where many of the lessons emerge from the various conversations and anecdotes that underpin our stories and events. To better showcase these learnings, and provide a measure of insight into how the global PR industry is responding to such a transformative era, this series asks people what they have learned, according to three specific areas.

In the latest instalment in our series, we hear from Charles Lewington, CEO of Hanover Communications, who reflects on the new considerations of work life balance, scientific communications, and the need for human interaction. 

Three things I've learned... 

Career
The pandemic brought home to me the extraordinary stress of being a parent with nursery or school-age children while also pursuing a career in a high-pressure consultancy. As if juggling family demands wasn’t hard enough in good times, lockdowns imposed the added burden of enforced home schooling and school or nursery outbreaks. My heart went out to those dealing with the pressure of children with learning difficulties stuck in apartments or those in strained or unhappy relationships. It was not uncommon for a mum to test positive for Covid in the morning only to have to deal with a management or a client crisis in the afternoon. As an industry, we must do everything in our power to help support everyone’s work life balance, but particularly those of parents and carers.

PR
The pandemic produced a plethora of new scientific data sets, and an introduction to the mysterious lexicon of epidemiologists. It was difficult to assess transmissibility data of new variants without accompanying data on hospitals admissions or what percentage of those admissions that ended up in ITU. As a consultancy with a rich healthcare heritage, we found ourselves needing to apply our own scientific knowledge to give informed advice to clients of national and regional Covid trends that were business critical. The challenge of explaining vaccine efficacy is not a new one to any healthcare communications consultancy. Explaining efficacy during peak vaccine ‘nationalism’ was a new one and there are many learnings for industry.

Personal
The first lockdown was a reminder of the importance of the relationship between physical health and mental health. Compulsory walk or run ‘breaks’ in the middle of the day did not completely compensate for working over Zoom from a kitchen or a bedroom. Nor did the regular quizzes and socials on Zoom make up for the lack of physical interaction. But now we are back in the office, we are taking steps to reinvigorate our culture, building relationships with our new team members and continuing to encourage everyone to take breaks in the middle of the day. For me, it proved to be good thinking time.

If you'd like to share your three lessons, please let us know.