Statkraft leaders navigate a new normal amidst Covid-19 crisis

Work-life for most has been turned upside down since Covid-19 infected our lives. Business priorities have changed, social distancing has forced to re-think teamwork as we know it, and we often find ourselves in unknown territory to complete tasks that were once office-bound.

Statkraft leaders share their reflections on how they and their teams are coping with this ‘new normal’.

Johnny Næss Langsrud

“A few weeks ago, we were told that everyone had to work from home, and we had a few hours to prepare. The IT department went into fifth gear and was able to complete the transfer from office to home for most of our workforce within days.

These days, my top priorities are the care and well-being of our people, and the safeguarding of our critical infrastructure. We are tightly focused on cyber security and staying vigilant, to tackle new threats arising during this crisis.

When it comes to our people, we see that many are facing challenging situations, isolated at home, children in online school, and spouses competing for bandwidth and work space. This is the time, more than ever, for all of us to reach out to our colleagues, stay connected and support each other.”

Johnny’s three tips for working from home:

1. Take breaks. Do your best to get out of your chair, eat at normal meal times, and get some exercise.
2. Get creative. Run a quiz, host a happy hour or even a dinner party via video conference. It’s okay to have some fun.
3. Call each other. It’s important to stay connected, so just reach out to your colleagues, friends and family to keep in touch.

Ketil Fodstad

“My team and I have been heavily involved in the handling of the pandemic, when it comes to the impact on our people and business. There is no one who is unaffected by this crisis, and our employees have truly stepped up and adopted this new way of work. Our digital collaboration tools have proven essential, and we are all becoming super-users. I’ve also seen amazing collaboration efforts, as well as people who are truly supporting their fellow colleagues in need.

Our priorities during this time center around the people in our company. We are working to ensure that we maintain daily close contact via digital tools, that we are able to share information despite our distance, and that we become even more adept at pivoting, as plans of course will continually change in any kind of crisis situation.”

Ketil’s three tips for working from home:

1. Try not to get too stressed with young children at home and remember to still enjoy the small moments with them.
2. Agree on a schedule with your spouse. It can save a lot of unnecessary negotiation later.
3. Have your own working space. Just the act of physically entering your new workspace can help the shift from family to work.

Ronald van Eldik

“Our team’s focus is on business continuity. We were forced to act fast when we were told to work from home, and thanks to our access to systems and good digital tools, we were able to this quite seamlessly. We are now working virtually to prepare for our Q1 financial results, and we are experiencing increased activity in our market and credit risk teams. Our day-to-day jobs haven’t changed, we just find ourselves in a new setting as we complete our work to validate and confirm deals in the markets, run activities, as well as monitor and report risk.

I’ve been proud of the entire Statkraft team. I feel that we have shown great flexibility and true care for each other during a very challenging time.”

Ronald’s three tips for working from home:

1. Make sure to balance all the negative news with some positive experiences in your life.
2. Reach out to friends and family on video conference to stay connected, as social relationships are critical at this time.
3. Move around.

Carsten Poppinga

“We are in the midst of a crisis that we didn’t anticipate, and even though energy prices have dropped, we have managed well. There will be volatility in the market going forward, and our team is focused on staying sharp and conducting thorough analysis.

Our customers are naturally impacted by this crisis, and we are doing our best to support them. Customer insight is essential at this time. We need to understand their problems in order to give them the right support.

I have learned from this experience to have humble approach to life and markets, as we have been clearly reminded that much is beyond our control. All we can do is to learn how to adapt and react if, and when we find ourselves in crisis again.”

Carsten’s three tips for working from home:

1. Stay disciplined. Do your best to maintain a typical workday. You can even take advantage of the time saved from lack of a commute.
2. Get out of your chair once in a while. It’s so easy to sit still for hours on end when you’re not rushing to the next meeting.
3. Invest the time saved (from not commuting) in walking or other exercise.