The One About Working from Home in 2020

Pivot!  So, as I am writing this week’s Wednesday Words it’s only fitting that a last minute change due to Tropical Storm Beta has turned another day upside down, again.  Pivot!  With the potential of street flooding my kids are home from school and turning back to online classes.  Pivot!  Seems normal for now right?  Only this was supposed to be their second day back in class for a “regular” schedule.  At this point in the year I feel like Chandler in the epic Couch Scene of Friends who screams at Ross, “Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up!”   I firmly believe that the overriding theme of 2020 is not something tied to vison or the future, but more grounded in the phrase, “Hold my beer…”  Just how much more can we take?

As we slog through the year 2020 it has been said that we are near completion of “Phase 1” of the return to work.  What does that mean?  Well, it’s the return of those who needed to come back into offices, that could not otherwise work remote indefinitely.  For those that can work remote, we’re now seeing extensions being announced from beginning to-mid-to late 2021.   These extensions will have lasting effects on our personal and professional lives. 

Much like my morning shifted under my feet, we’re all becoming more “flexible” in our daily lives.  I’ve asked my colleague Amanda Wellborne to share some of her adjustments to working remote during a pandemic.

We’ve always balanced work and life. But this extra extension of school life is rather new. The continuation of time with the virus means Fall and maybe even this whole school year is at home. With school beginning, we’re seeing a shift in the over playing of zoom calls. Parents now need to facilitate a learning session, switch to another e-learning course by subject or even help them launch zoom calls of their own. This means we need to have oversight and participate. Video makes this type of assistance too distracting. How do we navigate? One might say we need to do a better job at scheduling. But can we control all the school activities or calls we have for work? And what if you’re like me – with 3 kids at home in different grades…it’s like I have 4 full time jobs.

I think the answer is in leaning on each other. In my neighborhood, a few of the moms are safely getting creative. One mom hosts school at her house for the week. The 4-5 other kids come over and she assists them all day in getting their work completed. That way, the other 4 moms can work and pay attention to their jobs. With this rotation, each mom only teaches school twice in a single semester. If this option isn’t comfortable for you, what I’m seeing is flexible work. Flexible work has been a term pre-pandemic, but this flexible is extreme. It takes extreme leadership and maybe a radical leap into full utilization of your productivity metrics. Since we have been home now for quite some time, companies have really utilized this time to tighten up how they are managing performance. This new found or possibly re-found need provides this extreme flexibility with the necessary accountability.  Either way, we’re seeing more focus on the outputs (the deliverables) than the time spent in an office or meeting.

Thanks Amanda!  It’s clear we are adapting, but this “Pivot” of sorts is starting to show signs of weariness as the bloom comes off the rose.  What was initially refreshing and intriguing as a new approach to work has slowly become tiresome and tedious. 

I’ve noticed that in many online meetings people are defaulting to their cameras off.  Meetings of significance still have more on-camera, but the trivial “status meetings” are now just voice.  Recent roundtables I’ve attended are discussing the idea of “Badging” for Zoom meetings to keep people engaged.  Attendees could potentially receive points for: attending, recurring attendance for weekly meetings, turning their video on or even for things like mute/unmute dexterity. 

As we shift into the Fall Conference Season, many of the events we’ve come to enjoy in-person are now virtual.  Initially in the Spring there was an intrigue to see how the move from physical to virtual may work.  Now, much like a re-run on TV, we’re seeing less enthusiasm for the online events as we crave the experience and interaction with our peers. 

Overall, I think we’re just getting a bit tired.  Tired of 2020.  The last few weeks I’ve noticed a certain level of weariness from others.  The constant interruption of our lives after 6 months has an eroding effect on our resilience.  People are becoming fatigued with the amount of change in their lives or the number of “Pivots” in a day.  There is a desire for stability in our lives.  Our resilience is fueled by our families, our routines and our typical cadence.  I would love to hear how readers are holding up this year.  What strategies have worked, not worked.  Are you thriving, treading water or ready to put up the Christmas decorations.  Just leave a comment if you would like.  In the meantime “I’ll be there for you!”