How We All Figured Out How to Work from Home

You would think a company that has always been remote would have no ‘hiccups’ during the pandemic shutdown. That’s what we thought, too. 

We were wrong. Big time. We didn’t take into consideration how our employees’ home environments would change drastically and what additional support we would all need. We were no longer set up to work while our loved ones were at their jobs or school. We were now trying to wear the ‘family hat’ while wearing the ‘professional hat,’ and we found out they both don’t fit on your head at the same time. 

We had three people leave at the beginning of the pandemic due to family reasons. They had to take care of kids struggling emotionally in this new unstable world, adjusting to school being taught at home and their spouses being in the same workspace. Not to mention the mental stress COVID had on everyone. 

To help the team feel more connected, we met three times a week or more to establish ‘lifelines.’ This way we could see each other on Zoom and keep an eye on each other. We created a safe space for everyone on the team to talk about what was going on and how we could support each other. These connections helped us flourish and we formed a stronger team.

We changed how we worked together and how we worked remotely. We recently talked about how many of us had ‘aha’ moments where we discovered the best ways to work from home during the pandemic and beyond.

Here are a few insights that came out of those conversations: 

“I wake up at 5:00 am every morning and get my laundry and house tasks done before I sit down to work. It makes my whole day go better.”

“I schedule personal ‘to-dos’ on specific days. This helps with work efficiency and knowing when to schedule work meetings.”

“The calendar is my work schedule—I block off time for creativity, getting work done and preparing for dinner or picking kids up from school or activities.”

“I created a designated work space at home to limit interruptions and to put me in the right mind frame to focus on work. I also told my family, ‘I am working—only come in here if there is blood.”

“Setting boundaries and establishing routines were very helpful for me. My family is much happier too because I was working all the time. Now I have set days for different clients and I stop working after 3 every day to be with my family. After dinner, I will put in some time and make sure that I set my emails to go out the next working day.”

“Team meetings have been a place to connect, share and discuss. I feel like I am part of a group of people who I can talk to both professionally and personally.”

“Creating a schedule for each parent’s work day to tell the kids who to go to if there is an issue or if they need help with school work.”

“Schedule recess! We all need time to regroup, recharge and exercise!”

What did you learn from your work-from-home experience?