The village council implemented an innovative (for village councils) solution – the Worksection project management system, which helped to respond quickly and set up all processes even during the quarantine.
Worksection, in turn, met the community’s needs by providing access to the system and consultations completely free of charge.
We spoke with the village head Serhiy Zamidra about how the quarantine was implemented in Nemishaieve, what difficulties they faced, and how Worksection helped in this.
The council’s work during the quarantine implementation
Serhiy Zamidra – village head of Nemishaieve
The introduction of quarantine in Nemishaieve village happened immediately after the corresponding decision was made at the state level. A COVID-19 Combat Headquarters was established in the village, which took on all the work of coordinating the fight against the epidemic.
The Kyiv Oblast was not an exception compared to other regions. When I checked the orders from the regional headquarters available on the website of the state regional administration a month later, less than 30% reached our level.
Some decisions remained at the top, and we were informed about some decisions through newsletters. We did not actually feel a general support system from the central authorities vertically. Most heads (city, village) had to engage independently in solving these problems.
The fight against the virus requires solving two main problems
- Providing disinfection, organizing a safe space for residents.
- Ensuring protection against panic.
This means that people must be clearly and fully informed about the situation.
If someone falls ill, we honestly say that we have a sick person, but of course without specifying who it is. We encountered that information about those who became ill arrived with a bit of a delay.
So if people know that these three have already recovered, but it is reported that they are still sick, then who will people ask questions to? Not the regional council, but the local government. And people say: “You tell us that the person has recovered, but the regional administration says no. And the person is walking the streets. How is that possible?” And we have to work under such circumstances.
Entrepreneurs responsibly approached the restrictions that were introduced. They discussed possible easing, but overall everyone understood the situation.
It is more challenging with people and self-isolation. When a person is in self-isolation for the first week, it seems easy and straightforward. After 2 – 3 weeks, there is a certain pressure. Especially if there is a delay in testing. People start to call, asking when they will be able to go out. And you explain that this decision is not made by the village head; you need to pass two tests and wait.
Why a task manager is needed
Active work is being carried out by the communication group – this group supports the activities of the headquarters, informs residents about the current state, pressing issues, and what can be done about them. This is to help the community navigate through all these situations more calmly.
Organizing volunteer support, strategic planning, quarantine monitoring, supporting entrepreneurs, fundraising, municipal guard issues – these are all matters related to the work of the headquarters that need to be addressed.
For example – the municipal guard of the village. We understand that quarantine does not allow the closing of the entrance to the village, but in case of a significant increase in the number of sick people, we must have a well-thought-out plan for what we will do.
This can be easily done in a document that immediately opens in the Worksection project:
- Engagement plan;
- Who is responsible;
- Contact persons.
Simple tools – less time for adaptation
We were looking for a simple tool that could be quickly implemented in the operations of the headquarters. It should be convenient, but at the same time not burden employees with heavy IT tools.
Before this, we used Asana. A good solution, but Worksection turned out to be more intuitive.
We were very pleased that in Worksection all elements are interconnected. When creating a task, you open the calendar and everything is conveniently displayed as usual. If you set a task, you can track how long it remains relevant.
(Screenshot of the calendar)
The task list can be filtered by a specific employee, especially convenient when many people work on the projects.
(Screenshot of the task list)
Working with documents has become even simpler. Now we add the document to the project, and then we can reattach it to any task.
(View of the document list)
How Worksection helps
Clearly communicating with the community. Organizing a system for gathering information in such a way that information about potentially infected individuals reaches you before it appears in the area. Counting not only on your own resources but also trying to engage residents, volunteers, and fundraise money. Because the fight against the virus is not just one tank you set out; it is the struggle of all community residents who understand that the virus is serious.
Everyone has probably heard of the success of Silicon Valley.
The foundation of this success was trust and mutual assistance. Therefore, I sincerely believe that it is precisely thanks to such open companies that do not stand aside from the problems arising in society, our country will grow rapidly, and our enterprises will also achieve significant gains. What you give for the good always returns to you manifold.