Being Mindful about COVID-19 for Employees and Community

Posted on March 13, 2020
by admin

Adisa Cares: How We Are Addressing COVID-19 Virus

I love my team. And as a business owner, I take the threat of the COVID-19 virus to my team seriously. Which is why last week, we started a protocol to ensure that we mitigate the risk of exposure to employees while working at our office.

Check out how we are addressing the risk of COVID-19 at public meetings and events, too.

It means that if you happen to stop by our office, be prepared to be greeted by the smell of Lysol and immune system-boosting essential oils. Sorry. Not sorry.

My mom called me this week to ask me if I was taking vitamin C and eating my green leafy vegetables. No joke. Moms…right? Let me know if she needs to call you too.

In addition to closely monitoring the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization’s guidelines and recommendations, my team and I have also implemented internal changes to be safe and stay healthy.

Here is a list of ways we are being mindful to reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus:

We disinfect ALL surfaces twice a day, including door handles, keyboards, desks, chairs, etc. (yesterday they sprayed my cell phone)
Use creative ways to greet each other, instead of handshakes and hugs (VIDEO)
Employees are being encouraged to work from home and to take meetings by phone instead of in person.
Mandatory five-day self-quarantine for any employees who have recently traveled abroad or from/to any hot zones
Use of hand sanitizer stations in the office
Encourage frequent hand washing
Share information about healthy eating habits, immune-boosting vitamins, and supplements
Diffusing essential oils in the office that boost may boost immune systems

Also, I have encouraged employees to stock up on non-perishables, fresh produce, cleaning supplies, and any medications they may need.

I believe that the healthier we are mentally, the less susceptible we are to disease (science backs this up too). This understanding is the basis for a weekly mindfulness hour my team started conducting earlier this year. My entire team spends an hour together in contemplation and increased awareness of our core values: caring, clarity, creativity, and connection.

With today’s declaration by the World Health Organization that COVID-19 is a pandemic, we want you to know that we are taking preventative measures, learning and innovating our practices, and sending good vibes to our planet.

Be smart and safe out there,
Shuronda Robinson
President/CEO

PS – Please feel free to share these ideas and best practices with your team and tag us when you do!

Ways Adisa Communications is Addressing COVID-19 for Events and Public Meetings

The bread and butter of our business is conducting public meetings and events to support community decision-making processes.

At Adisa Communications, we have always had a practice of cleaning and disinfecting spaces, as well as ensuring proper hygiene of any employees who staff meetings or events. These practices are part of our written standard operating procedures and staff training for how we conduct meetings and events. If you’ve been to one of our events, you’ve seen the container of bleach wipes in our event supplies!

We also have standards for food handling and preparation including the use of individually packaged goods and gloves by food handlers.

While gatherings of less than 2500 have not been banned under the City’s emergency declaration, we want you to know that we are adjusting our practices and taking further precautions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, above and beyond our normal practices including:

Disinfect ALL surfaces including tables and chairs before, during, and after the meeting. We will have a team member dedicated to this task at all events and public meetings.
Enforce a “no-handshake” zone at public meetings by sharing creative ways to greet attendees (think fist bump, head nod, or our favorite – the queen wave)
Ask people who are coughing or sneezing to maintain 3 feet of distance between themselves and others.
Make sure public meetings include a Livestream component and dedicate a team member to engage with the public who chooses to attend online. We want to make sure any online attendee gets their questions answered and their voices are heard if they choose not to show up in person. We already have the equipment in-house to provide this service.
Have a dedicated phone line for attendees to text in questions, comments or concerns during a public meeting.
Limit sharing of pens and markers. When you sign in at the registration table, you get to keep the pen you used to sign in. We will also have a bin to place used pens and markers that we will disinfect during the event.
Place hand sanitizer stations around the room.
Encourage frequent hand washing by attendees.
Have facial tissue on hand for use by attendees.

At Adisa Communications we already take most of these steps, however, we are ramping up our practices to take care of our clients and our community.

If you have concerns or questions about these best practices, or want to share best practices with us, please let us know. Also, here is a helpful and informative website on COVID-19 from the World Health Organization, which declared novel coronavirus a pandemic today.