The better part of a year of lockdowns and social distancing measures have taken a toll – as parents juggle children who need schooling, younger employees work from cramped flats, and many deal with a sense of interminable monotony.
However, as people farewelled after-work socialising and long commutes, time freed up for projects and interests which in “normal” times might live at the bottom of to-do lists.
Our new series hopes to celebrate some of these hidden-at-home stories from our community of wealth managers and private bankers.
Whether you or someone on your team has taken up an interesting hobby, raised some money for charity, or met a personal milestone – please get in touch with us: anewlove@paminsight.com
Today, we hear from Andy Clynes, senior project manager with RBC Wealth Management in Jersey, who has created an app to assist the learning of his son Isaac.
Andy Clynes and Isaac / Image: Copyright Jersey Evening Post
Tell us a bit about the new hobby, interest, or project you took up in lockdown
At the start of 2020, I released an iPad app which I had originally developed for my autistic son, Isaac. He is non-verbal so he can’t vocalise his needs – for example, he can’t say “I’m upset” or “I want my mum or dad.”
In addition, Isaac didn’t have the association between a person and their photo, so he couldn’t just point to a picture to say who or what he needed.
The app helped Isaac to gradually build associations in a fun way, using sounds, animations and videos to capture his imagination. I wanted to share the app with as many people as I could, but lockdown came at just the wrong time.
Leaving stacks of flyers in the reception of key agencies was no longer viable, so I had to learn some digital marketing skills. This wasn’t in my comfort zone, but it started to pay dividends when I was contacted by an organisation in Spain who wanted to help promote the app.
What skills from your ‘day job’ have you brought to this project?
As a project manager at RBC Wealth Management, I’m fortunate to be involved in all aspects of software development from its inception right through to the point where it arrives in the hands of our clients. Although my home projects aren’t on the same scale, the principles are the same.
'Design thinking' – a problem solving process – is baked into the RBC culture, and this guided my own development. This allowed me to focus on the underlying problem and saved a lot of effort before writing a single line of code.
I then used 'agile principles' (another development process) to get something into Isaac’s hands so I could see what worked and what didn’t before expending too much effort in the wrong places. I quickly learned that he likes to delete things, so I needed to put my own form of lockdown into the app!
What are your future goals for the app?
The app has been downloaded in 34 countries, which I’m delighted with. Going forward, establishing partnerships could be a game changer, so I would like to connect with more specialist centres in the field of autism who will use the app to help families in the same way that Autism Jersey has helped mine.
It has been suggested that the app could also benefit people with Alzheimer’s, so it would be great to find a partner to explore this opportunity.
Finally, I plan to extend its functionality beyond photos of family members, by adding topics such as food, toys and activities, as well as video content.
How has the pandemic period affected your work/life balance overall?
Before the pandemic I had a fairly structured day, but when lockdown started, it was the complete opposite. My step count plummeted from 10,000 to a couple of thousand per day, and yet I was somehow feeling more tired.
I’ve now tried to replicate my old routine (minus the commute), by starting with some exercise, and breaking up the day with time away from the screen to give my eyes a rest and stretch my legs. I’ve got a lot more energy as a result, and I no longer doze off in front of the TV at 7pm. Well, no more than before lockdown anyway!
RBC got the IT infrastructure right from day one, so I’ve managed to be as productive as I was in the office. I definitely miss the human interaction at work, but tools like Webex Teams mean that we can meet virtually and the chat feature can be a great substitute for a water-cooler conversation.
On the flip side, there’s more time to spend with my family which is a positive to take away from this difficult time.
