War is a challenge for any business. When it comes to your home, you understand you must respond promptly and think through every step you take. As the company you are running is vital to supporting your country, its survival becomes your top priority after ensuring the safety of your employees.

Therefore, on those days when the situation in the country changed hourly, we focused on the most important things for our company. It helped us save all the clients and sign 4 new contracts during wartime.

In particular, we:

Re-located team members to safe locations

First, we helped all employees from the eastern and central parts of the country (Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa) move to Lviv or other safe locations in the far west of Ukraine. After arriving, the guys exchanged seats with their colleagues for a couple of days, whilst searching for a place to stay. Our office manager was on the phone 24 hours a day to resolve all issues as quickly as possible. Currently, all the employees have been provided with a long-term place to live.

Contacted clients

As the CEO of Relevant, I wrote emails to all of our clients in order to assure them we are doing our best to work without delays. Many of our employees took Thursday and Friday off to deal with urgent matters and cope with the stressful situation. All of our clients showed understanding and support, and we are very grateful to them.

Double-checked the projects’ statuses

We double-check project statuses to keep all stakeholders updated on progress, allocate resources appropriately, and ensure projects are completed on time. Now our employees continue to perform their tasks while 80% work full-time and only 20% – part-time.

Improved communication among the team

Managers and the VP of Delivery spoke to each team member to learn about their mental and physical conditions and keep their spirits up. This helped us to assess the overall mood of the company. Daily meetings, (even twice a day) at the top levels of management, helped us stay in touch and keep an ear to the ground. In addition, the team constantly shares real-time information with one another so there would be minimal loss of productivity. 

We also have a lecture from a psychologist available to help people cope with stress.

Developed an extra contingency plan

In the case of unforeseen circumstances, the top management team created plans A, B, and C for each department, which we transformed into plans for the entire company (hopefully, we won’t need them). It includes, for example, the provision of backup communications and the temporary transfer of essential business responsibilities to team members outside of Ukraine. Also, if needs be, we have an entity in Poland to secure the company from the legal and financial side.

Started fundraising to the Armed Forces 

Our company immediately donated money to the Armed Forces so that they could buy drones, ammunition, medicine, and help refugees. In addition, we have placed a donation request on our website. 

Helped those who joined Armed Forces

Our designer Ivan Baloh was the only person who joined the Armed Forces and couldn’t continue his work. Relevant continues to support him financially. We have also bought a drone and provided him with a laptop, which will help him on the front.

Everyone should take their place during the hours of war. And the IT community turned out to be perhaps the only unaffected sector of the Ukrainian economy. So, we in Relevant continue to work, pay taxes, and donate to the army. It is the only way we can support our country, our families, and our military while fiercely fighting for the independence and European choice of the Ukrainian people. And when the war is over, our business will help restore the destroyed infrastructure in the attacked regions of Ukraine. I believe it will happen soon!

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!

Слава Україні! Героям слава!