Why I Miss The Office
by Josephine Kim, Business Manager
Wow, it’s been a year since I’ve worked remotely and I hate it. In a previous blog, Mike shared his advice in connecting in the new world. While collaboration tools have kept up with the pace of remote work and made the transition from office to home easier, it doesn’t fully replace the office.
Work from anywhere — this was trending even before the pandemic. No more typical 9–5 work days and no need to commute to work as long as you had access to the internet. Working from home used to be a choice and more so a privilege. The millennial dream, or so most of us thought. However, when forced into remote working, it does not feel the same. Surprisingly, 93% of Millennial workers reported difficulty working from home as a result of COVID-19 according to a survey conducted by Smartsheet.
With the transition of working from home full time after a year, I have been in more meetings versus when I was in the office working with colleagues around the world. I’m not alone because in the Smartsheet survey, 57% of Millennials say the amount of time spent on video calls each day makes it hard to get any work done. Also, those with kids, spouses, partners, and/or roommates make it even more tough. How many times have we seen kids running around in the background, a cat walking across the screen or a dog barking because someone knocked on the door? Sharing a common space versus going to the office has proven to be challenging and distracting with kids needing help with virtual learning and partners/roommates having their own meetings in the background.
The team at True North Advisory has helped to make this transition a little less painful. While we may be in different places, here are some things that have made my life a little more sane:
Daily Check-ins With The Team
The team sets aside thirty to forty-five minute long meetings that are scheduled four days out of the week. These meetings help to have the team to connect on updates and priorities. Some of the meetings are informal where the team catches up on each other’s lives. The check-ins are also key to building a sense of belonging while being remote. While it doesn’t entirely replace the small chats I would get to have, it definitely helps to feel I’m not working alone.
Block Your Calendar
One of the pernicious things about working home is that you lose sense of time. Being in the office, you are more conscious of the time go offline and head home. When you are home, it’s easy to get caught up in meetings and working through the night even after the working day is done. I found it helpful to make a conscious effort to block off time not only for when I’m not available, but also to do the actual work.
Find a “Third Space”
Working from anywhere doesn’t necessarily mean you should be working from your bed or dining room table. In fact, it’s healthier to designate your “office” space in your home so that you don’t mix a space where you normally relax with where you work. It also creates a healthy boundary for where you can turn your computer off and essentially “leave” work for the day.
While collaboration technology innovates to add cool new features and enhance working from anywhere, people need to not forget why we miss the office and that technology can not fully replace the human interaction that you get from face-to-face. How do you find ways to find balance in today’s “work from anywhere”? Share with us in the comments.
