EQ at home – David Morrison

At EQ, our people are at the heart of what we do.

Although working from home means we are physically spread across our regions, our team are working hard to maintain regular communication with their clients whilst continuing to support colleagues by connecting with them daily.

We caught up with David Morrison, Partner from our Dundee office, to find out more about his experience working from home.

How are you finding working remotely?

Now that we’re several weeks into lockdown, I have a daily routine that I stick to, but I still miss the face to face interaction with clients as that’s how I’ve always worked. My wife, Claire, works from home, my daughter, Charlotte, is studying for her final year at University and my son, Campbell, is finishing his “highers” so there is a lot of competition for workspace and wifi!

What are you doing to keep in touch with the rest of the EQ team?

Although modern technology is largely a mystery to me, the use of Microsoft Teams and sometimes Zoom has been terrific. Phoning someone is good but there’s no substitute for being able to see the person you’re talking to. I’ve learned new skills on FaceTime and I’m even in a couple of WhatsApp groups so there’s no shortage of communication. The way our team has adapted to homeworking has been fantastic, they’re a great bunch.

How are you looking after your emotional well being?

Actually, about 6 weeks before lockdown, I started to walk for an hour each morning around 7am, meaning that I start the day having had valuable thinking time. A walk with my daughter and my dog, Bolt, at the end of the day allows me to wind down. I make much more of an effort to stay in touch with family and friends now and our Friday office group calls are a lot of fun. It’s great to see how well everyone has adapted. Many of our clients are, however, in very challenging situations so it’s our responsibility to devote all our time and effort into helping them achieve continuing success and to remain positive. That work gives us a great perspective about what’s important in life.

What advice would you give to others working from home?

Make sure you get off to a good start and don’t lapse into bad habits. A good routine, getting up to stretch your legs periodically is always beneficial and break up your day into calls, video meetings and technical work to ensure plenty of variety. Set yourself sensible targets just as you might do in the office. One final thing is to enjoy the business lunches which beat sandwiches any day!

Tell us, what are your new co-workers like?

My wife and kids would say that they’re not used to seeing me as much as this and I hope they like that as much as me. However, given that our gin cupboard seems to have taken a bit of a hit recently, I’m not so sure! Our dog, Bolt, loves the extra attention and for him, lockdown has been terrific.

It’s my turn to cook the tea tonight – hope everyone likes Pot Noodles !

Our doors may be temporarily closed, but EQ are still here to support you. You can contact us on any of our usual telephone numbers and email addresses, which you can find on the Our People page on this website.