In early May, many London businesses took part in the Games Stress Test which was being led and promoted by Canary Wharf Group plc. and Deloitte.
The London-wide stress test for businesses looked into companies’ ‘Games-time’ plans focusing on IT, telecommunications and transport. The test, which took place in the form of a survey, looked at conditions during the Games when many businesses will have alternative working arrangements in place, including working from home and flexible working. The plans were tested to see if they could identify any issues that might need to be addressed before the Games start, such as testing conferencing services and how flexible working might impact business activity.
London prepares for the Games.
The aim of the Stress Test was to ensure that London businesses have all the information they need to remain open and active during the Games, and that employees can still access their workplace, whether that be via flexible working or through the use telecommunications and working from home.
Along with the Stress Test, the recent Roaming World Congress conference looked at the London Olympics and focused on the Games being a major driver for mobile roaming within London.
“Thousands of people will descend on London for the Games, so there will be a real test on the Wi-Fi and data roaming systems that are in place in the city. We already have Wi-Fi in a number of underground stations which will help businesses enormously as colleagues can stay in touch with each other as they commute to and from the office.”
Although the development of Wi-Fi in underground stations is fantastic, it still won’t counteract the volume of people we are expecting to host in the city. Therefore we think that the best ‘plans’ people can have in place for the summer are to reduce travel over the Games. If you need to have a meeting, why not make it a conference call? If you have a presentation use web conferencing or even video conferencing if you still need to see each other. Reducing the number of face-to-face meetings and offering flexible or remote working seems like the best plan in our opinion, reducing the stress of your staff, clients and suppliers.
Does your business have a ‘Games-time plan’? If so, what are you planning on implementing during the Games? Do you think you will be impacted by the Games?
