'Never let a good crisis go to waste'

Extreme and unprecedented times, that is what all of society is in right now. The government is making every effort to at least allow ongoing projects and government tenders to continue safely. Good news for the infra sector. That does not alter the fact that in these times - where working from home for office workers is the new norm - infra(related) companies need to realign themselves. Making work of digitization is therefore a must. With Cleverdesk, an online portal for GWW companies, you no longer have to physically see each other.

'Never let a good crisis go to waste,' or 'never let a good crisis go to waste.' These are famous words of Winston Churchill leading up to the formation of the United Nations shortly after World War II. "The corona crisis reawakened most of the Dutch population," says Maarten Overeem of Idea101, founder of Cleverdesk. "Of course, the initial reaction was mainly 'panic,' but thanks to all kinds of digital means, people appear to be quite capable of working from home. Contact with colleagues also often goes better than expected via the many video calling possibilities. When we soon have the virus under control, a new reality will emerge and digital means will be used earlier than before the crisis."

Building bridges

What the corona crisis does reveal is the degree of digital maturity of companies, Overeem argues. "There are many companies that have indeed already digitalized, but some are still hopelessly behind. With Cleverdesk, Idea101 has the solution to digitize all operational processes in one package. For example, the application makes it possible to communicate remotely to bridge the gap between office staff (at home) and employees on location. It is also possible, for example, to use the schedule to shoot in assignments online, but writing and accounting for hours, signing off work orders, reporting an unsafe situation or even requesting leave can also be done completely digitally. Everything needed in the work field is available via a tablet or smartphone with an Internet connection. From the office (home), it is also possible to send individual or group messages to employees outside. The application distinguishes between different job levels, so that at each job level within the organization, tasks can be handled digitally."

Cleverdesk is entirely focused on digitizing the operational processes of GWW companies. "Apart from large companies, smaller companies (where the owner, for example, also functions as planner and executor) can also use Cleverdesk for a low-threshold entry. Through our website, one can request a free demo. To end with Churchill's famous words 'never let a good crisis go to waste'," concludes Overeem.