May 22, 1995, is PSC’s birthday when founders Tony Armstrong and Ranil De Silva wrote the first chapter of PSC’s history in New Zealand. Since then –  supported by our amazing clients and dedicated employees all around the world – PSC has faced our ups and downs and continues to help our clients solve the real-world problems facing the electricity industry today.

While PSC’s 25th anniversary was a milestone by any definition, it happened when the world had just started dealing with a global pandemic. At this time last year, instead of celebrating, we were focused on helping our clients navigate a new and challenging time. We were figuring out how our remote working situation would play out for our PSC employees worldwide and how we could support the health and safety of our communities.

Thankfully, the nature of our services and our globally dispersed workforce meant that we had the technology and security systems in place to transition to a full-on “work from home” model quickly and with comparatively little friction. That said, a number of our consultants remained on-site with clients to support projects instead of going home. We are grateful for their sacrifices and the sacrifices of so many others as we experienced this unexpected new reality together.

And, as any project manager will tell you, milestones are also an important opportunity for stakeholders to assure themselves that the project is moving in the right direction and assess performance. Because we’ve just kicked off a new financial year, we’ve been looking back – and forward – to determine how we can best support our clients, live our values and continue creating value within our industry.

Here are a few of the lessons we’ve learned (or re-learned) over the last year:

• We are all more adaptive than we think. The pandemic is evidence of just how resilient we are and how creative we can be in times of uncertainty. In the face of extraordinary change, we adapted and evolved.
• Work is wherever we are. Forced to work remotely, we’ve learned we can be just as productive – maybe even more so for some – as when we were in the office. Video conferencing and various technologies have enabled us to stay connected and deliver results from wherever we are.
• Life is precious and we are grateful for what we have. With 3.4 million deaths globally from COVID-19, we are incredibly aware of how precious life is and of the abundance we are afforded given our circumstances.

The PSC team in Perth enjoyed a dinner out together when Roger Riley (Managing Director, Asia Pacific) visited from Melbourne. From left to right around the table: Justine Yap, Madeleine Lim, John McLean, Vishan Veerahoo, Steve Raynes, Petrus Parlinggoman, Mustafa Motiwala, Craig Spring, David Wibowo, Henry Lwin, Roger Riley, Victor Francisco, Gary Wade, Andre Lou, Hanadi Jaber.

Now, as parts of the world start to re-open, I’m pleased to report that we’ve re-opened our Asia Pacific offices and have even had a few opportunities to gather together to celebrate employee anniversaries in the region. We plan to reopen our offices in other parts of the world as soon as local conditions allow.

Until then, we are delighted to recognize PSC’s 26th anniversary with many thanks to our valued clients, employees and their families worldwide.