| His Ideas 31 ~ Prefecture (1) |
April 28, 2021
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| He was shocked when he read in the newspaper that there was another corona-cluster in a bar in his prefecture, in which the workers didn't wear a mask. "Again?" His prefecture once had a good record of only a few coronavirus cases, but later there were several big clusters in bars. In one of the bars, the workers didn't wear masks. The chain of the infected people patients didn't stop for a long time. He thought that this type of worker should be very careful to protect both customers and themselves. When he was watching a business program, an economist mentioned about two prefectures that the governors were young and their policies and performances were great, including the implementation of a plan against the spread of the coronavirus. He was curious and searched the website of one of the prefectures ~Hiroshima Prefecture. He soon came to realize that this prefecture had a system to issue a certification to bars, restaurants, and other food related shops that took steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The  unique part of the system was that each shop would declare "yes or no" for 27 items and the result was the certification, which should be posted on the wall on the shop. The items on the certification were as follows: Name of the shop [ ], Address [ ], The person in charge of this matter [ ], Issued Date [ ] 1. Our workers won't work if they have a fever, fatigued, or coughing. [Yes / No] (Choose yes or no, the same goes for the followings) 2. We will announce this certification in public. (ex. In the shop, on the prefectural website, etc.) 3. We will prevent from being crowded. (ex. Limit the number of the customers, restrictions for the reservation of many people, etc.) 4. We will keep distance for each customer if there is a line. (ex. Put signs on the floor, make the line zigzag, etc.) 5. Our workers will wear a mask. 6. We will keep distance between customers. (ex. Reduce the seats, set the seats to not face each other, etc. ) 7. We will prevent saliva droplets from spreading. (ex. Instalment of acrylic boards, plastic sheet partitions, etc.) 8. We will ventilate the rooms. (ex. Leave all the doors open as much as we can, etc.) 9. We will avoid the "3Cs" (Closed room, Concentration, Close seats). (ex. Restriction of use of the compartment rooms, etc.) 10. We will make the environments that the customers don't need to speak loudly. (ex. Lower the volume of BGM, etc.) 11. We ask the customers to keep coughing etiquette. (ex. Post a caution notice, etc.) 12. We will ask the customers not to speak loudly. (ex. Post a caution notice, etc.) 13. We will make the environment feel safe for high risk customers. (ex. Have a priority time for the pregnant, the elderly, etc.) 14. We will place equipment to wash hands, to disinfect fingers. 15. We will reduce things that more than two people might touch. (ex. Menu, etc.) 16. We will proceed to a cashless payment system, prepare money coin trays for purchases/refunds. 17. We will clean and disinfect the tables every time the customers have changed. 18. We will regularly disinfect the knobs of the doors. (ex. Once an hour, etc.) 19. We will shorten the customers' waiting time. (ex. Suggest reservations, etc.) 20. We will implement less contact measurements. (ex. Pack things individually, etc.) 21. We will aim to limit "face to face" contact with customers. (ex. Takeout, delivery, online order, etc.) 22. We will thoroughly ask customers to wash hands, disinfect their fingers. (ex. Post a caution notice, etc.) 23. If there is an infection, we will inform our customers. 23. If there is an infection, we will announce our shop's name voluntarily. 25. If there is an infection, we will cooperate with the inspection by the prefecture authorities. 26~27 (Original measures) We will put an emphasis especially on these three items ~ No.[ ], [ ], [ ]. On the web, there was a list that had the shops listed that had gotten the certification. There were about 16,000 shops! (To be continued ...) *implementation :実施 *declare :宣言する This was a good chance to learn about remote work, he thought. On the TV, the president of a company started to explain about a questionnaire that was given to their workers about their remote working experience. He was a freelance worker and mainly worked from home. He lived in a local city, where a strict lockdown had never taken place. So, he only knew about remote working from newspapers and other sources. He had been wondering whether remote working really worked, or was it just a temporary solution done only in a crisis time. The company has over a hundred workers. Their business has two categories, they run a business channel on Cable TV, and are running an online business school. Since the first lockdown started in their area in Tokyo, they have been implementing remote working. They have two offices, and their workers' remote working rate is about 80%, meaning a person went to the office once in 5 business days. The questionnaire's result was this: Q1: Compare to 'Office Working', how is the productivity and the business efficiency of your remote working? Better: 69%, Depending on the circumstances: 22%, No difference: 4%, Other: 5% Q2: About communication during remote working: What do you think about it - section, team, etc. in quantity and quality? Enough / Appropriate: 68%, Depending on the circumstances: 24%, Not enough / Inappropriate: 8%, Other: 0% Q3: In the continuous remote working situation, how was your stress level compared with before? Lower: 84%, Same as before: 7%, Higher: 2%, Other: 7% Q4: Do you want remote working to continue in the future? Yes: 88%, Depending on the circumstances: 7%, No: 1%, Other: 4% The president laughed bitterly and said, "The revenues in this term of our company  has increased, so maybe we have to respect their wish after the pandemic ceases." He understood the 'bitterly' part. Maybe for managers, they feel relieved when they can see their workers working earnestly in front of them. Q3's 'lower stress' can be meant that they are just relaxed at home. The president added, "Building rent and maintenance costs are not low. So some companies have started to reduce their offices or change their offices to a cheaper place with better surroundings." His Idea #29 : Remote Work To come to think of it, all the workers don't necessarily love their offices, colleagues, bosses, etc. Your boss might say, "Hey, John. Could you copy this? It's urgent," when you are concentrating on your job. Or, "Has the job been proceeding well?" every time. In remote work, bosses need to give jobs beforehand with detailed conditions because bosses can't check every time about their worker's process of working. For workers, if the job is given earlier, they can plan their working pace suitably. Maybe the high efficiency rate that was stated from Q1 came from this. Recently he talked to a new person through Zoom. It was the first time to use Zoom to talk with a new person, and it wasn't bad at all. He learned that you don't need to meet in person, even for a stranger. Remote work might change our job style for the better ~ more efficient, lower in cost, freer, and more comfortable, he thought. |
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No.431
*implementation :実施
*declare :宣言する
*post :貼る
*fatigued :倦怠感
*restriction :制限
*saliva droplet :つば
*ventilate :換気する
*compartment room :個室
*refund :返金
*individually :個々に
*inform :知らせる
*voluntarily :自主的に
*inspection :検査