A Year of Building Bridges

Nearly one year ago, we rebranded Infotech. Like many rebrands, it wasn’t about slapping on a fresh coat of paint and a shiny new logo. Our goal was to build a brand that better reflected who we are, what we do, and where we’re going. Working with our agency partner, we pulled from our history, interviews with both longtime and brand new employees, and our strategic vision to unite Infotech under one banner: Bridging innovation & integrity. Not a tagline, but the essence of the role we fill boiled down to a few concise words.

Because at Infotech, connection is everything. We’ve all felt the importance of that connection as the state of the world forces us to pull apart. But rather than let it create a gulf between us, we recognize the separation as an opportunity to create something new - a suspension bridge of sorts, where our distance only serves to strengthen our connection.

That’s not to say it hasn’t been a challenging year; for many of us, it’s our most challenging year yet. But in a completely unprecedented situation, we’re proud of what our Infotech family has accomplished while upholding our pillars of integrity, insights, and innovation. We’ve found novel ways of working together and accomplishing tasks remotely while maintaining our priorities to ensure a sense of normalcy in continued business operations. Here are some of the bridges we’ve built by working together this year:

We’ve found ways to build bridges to each other in a remote environment

When we left our headquarters in March, no one had any idea that we would still be working from home in September. As it became clear that this wasn’t going to be a short-term situation, we quickly realized the importance of staying connected. Isolation wasn’t going to work. So, we found new ways to connect - formally, in remote town halls that allow employees to see and speak with our leadership in a casual setting, and informally, in virtual happy hours and meetups organized through Slack.

We’ve also learned new ways to work together. We may have temporarily left our favorite conference rooms behind, but we now have our favorite Zoom backgrounds to fall back on. And while working remotely isn’t for anyone, we’ve kept business operations moving forward without skipping a beat - a sign of the strength of our connection to each other.

We’re building bridges to our customers that we can’t see face-to-face

Treat people right has been our ethos since day one. That’s a little harder to pull off when you can’t see people face to face. Not that our intentions aren’t the same - but we’re known for our face-to-face relationship building. We travel onsite to agencies, get to know the personalities behind a team, and the nuances of the challenges they’re facing. Taking implementations and training sessions entirely remote is far from ideal. But we’ve worked hard to ensure our level of service does not dip regardless of the difficult situation.

We’ve also had to find ways to build bridges to potential customers, with our sales team unable to travel to their usual slate of conferences. By refining our digital strategy, we’ve created new approaches to finding potential users and connecting with them online.

We’re building better technology bridges through targeted integrations

The pandemic has not slowed our ability to innovate and improve our products. As the nexus point between owners, consultants, and contractors, we already offer a connection point for construction industry stakeholders. Strengthening those connections has been a top priority as we integrate new tools into our ITI Products line.

By working with our partners at Command Alkon, Leica Geosystems, and more, we are bolstering the reporting, analytics, and data storage capabilities of Appia and Doc Express.

We’re strengthening the bridge to our community by focusing on social areas

It’s been a year of reckoning for us all. The systematic oppression and violence inflicted on people of color throughout the country are finally being given an appropriate spotlight. As such, we have taken time to seriously re-evaluate our contributions to social justice, both internally and externally. We’ve worked to bridge the gaps in our understanding and provide Black employees with a platform to share their challenges and concerns.

Diversity and inclusion have always been a priority at Infotech, but now more than ever, we recognize that we have more to learn. By matching hours for employee education opportunities, we hope that as our knowledge grows, so will our appreciation for both our shared and divergent life experiences.

We’re working on “bridging the gap” by honing in on mental health awareness

Even in a day packed full of Zoom calls, it’s easy to feel isolated and alone in the current environment. Some of us are dealing with the opposite issue - stuck at home and struggling to balance being a parent with working, all while trying to find the time for a quiet moment for yourself. One of the few silver linings of the pandemic is the renewed focus on mental health.

We’ve seen how Infotechers have come together in our wellness-focused Slack channel to stay engaged, connected, and supportive. We’ve also heard about the private conversations between employees and their supervisors - conversations that have more empathy and honesty than they probably would have a year ago. It’s not that we haven’t always cared about each other - but in a time where compassion is a necessity, Infotechers are showing why integrity is one of our three brand pillars.

As we gradually prepare to enter 2021 on unprecedented but solid ground, we mustn’t merely think of it as “leaving 2020 behind.” It has been a tough year, but it’s been a year full of watershed moments for many of us. Gratitude allows us to acknowledge the challenges we’ve overcome while still celebrating the progress we’ve made. Year 2 of our new brand starts tomorrow - and we can’t wait to see the ways Infotechers continue to uphold our pillars of innovation, insights, and integrity.