Quarantine: Remote Work Insights and Our Plans for the Future

Miha Lavtar14.05.2020Optilife

After two months of working from home due to quarantine, we invited our employees to take part in a survey on the current situation regarding remote work. Are we doing just fine or are there any problems we don’t even know about? What’s with the morale? How do people feel, what problems are they facing? At Optiweb, we’ve always paid special attention to our employees and despite being forced to work remotely, this hasn’t changed. Quite on the contrary, the team are an even greater priority of ours! We’ve been apart for two months and some big changes were needed to make things work. This article describes the general state of our team (and how we feel) and we expect after the epidemic. At the end, you’ll also find a guidebook on remote work that might help you boost your productivity or even make your team more effective.

Never has communication been more crucial

Our employees believe that they have all the information they need for remote work, knowing exactly who to turn to if they need any information. They receive enough feedback from their team leads to stay the course while their managers often contact them simply to ask them how they are doing, adding value to their relationship. This way, one feels they mean something to the company. This has enabled us to keep building trust and bonding with coworkers despite the situation. The employees also believe that the management responded to the crisis properly and in time, which makes us proud.

Motivation and feelings? A bit turbulent

The employees say that they feel well but are sometimes unproductive and bored of the monotony. In general, they are doing great and can’t wait to meet their colleagues again. This is something we’re all looking forward to.

While working remotely, employees around the world have had the most problems with:

cooperation and communication,
loneliness,
inability to stop thinking about work,
home distractions,
maintaining motivation,
vacation time,
bad wifi reception,

The motivation of our team members has been affected by many factors:

Physical factors: These include noise, working in sub-optimal office spaces, bad internet connection and, of course, the proximity of the home fridge. Well, Optiweb folks are a hungry bunch. :)
Family-related factors: For many employees, other members of their household also present an obstacle. There are quite a few “Optiweb kiddies” and taking care of them demands time and energy. And of course, there are house chores that also need to be done during working hours. Private and professional lives are almost impossible to separate right now
Working conditions: Communication takes a lot of time while the circumstances have led to the increased workload, only adding on pressure and stress. Moreover, the meetings are more difficult as things are easier to talk through in person. However, most employees still believe that they are more productive when working remotely.

When working from home, the job often takes up a whole day, which is one of the most important reasons for the lack of motivation. It should also be no secret that during the period when the fate of the company was at its most uncertain and many of our clients were limiting their activities, we decided for a company-wide salary reduction. Despite notifying the team that this measure would be in place for two months, we cancelled it after only one month as the situation has improved, meaning that the salaries can go back to normal.

On the other hand, many factors have increased the employees’ motivation. These include clear company goals, daily briefings, virtual coffee meetings, cooperation with colleagues and proper office equipment (we’ve enabled our employees to use the company equipment for remote work).

Employees agree that the coronavirus crisis has taught us that we’re capable of coming together as a team and helping each other. Most team members believe that the relationships during the quarantine are just as good as they were before and that there have been enough informal activities for everyone to enjoy. We must be doing something right! :)

And how did we make it? We’ve actually visited a virtual escape room, turned into actors to reshoot clips from famous movies, tested our artistic skills to recreate famous works of art and even documented our respective superpowers. Sharing all this with our colleagues, we’ve had many a great laugh. Want to know what we looked like? Stay tuned! ;)

What do we miss most when working remotely and what do we like most?

Well, the answer to the first part of the question has been obvious since the very moment when it was decided that we were to leave the offices: colleagues. Nothing can replace meeting coworkers in person, having coffee with the crew (many of us probably miss the coffee machine a lot!) and enjoying some good old office banter. We miss our cosy offices, a retreat from our family members and a normal schedule (which makes it clear that the work day does not end at 10 pm). According to the international survey, the greatest advantages of remote work are flexible working hours, a free choice of working space, fuel savings and more time for family matters*. At Optiweb, we also appreciate spending more time with our families, having home-made lunches, more focus as well as the increased flexibility and time savings. Well, we also like the fact that the home toilet is always free. :)

What has surprised us the most positively in this corona situation?

“The level of honesty within the company and an openness for every opinion.”
“That we’ve all remained positive, not a single call with coworkers started on a negative note.”
“Sustaining great relationships, regular calls and sharing general info regarding the company situation.”
“How my team lead took the time to help me out.”
“How well we can come together.”
“How each and every team member gave 120 % and did everything to make the best of the situation.”

This is one of those moments when you realise just how important it is to invest in your wonderful colleagues! Some of them have been regularly working from home before while others have finally realised that this type of working arrangement can also function smoothly and bring results. One of the greatest surprises is the fact that we’ve been so quick to adapt to the difficult situation. We literally applied some changes over night to make sure we keep doing a great job. A stunning 98% of people who’ve worked from home due to the crisis now wish to at least partly work from home. We’ve seen the same thing to happen within our team.

The wishes regarding our big comeback vary quite a bit. Some are in no rush to return to work while others can’t wait for the green light. However, we all agree that the best option is a slow and gradual comeback. Additionally, some are more concerned with the safety measures while others don’t worry as much, even refusing to return until the masks are mandatory. But we all understand that our health takes priority.

And the way forward?

The quarantine was quite a hit! Within two months, we’ve experienced the whole range of emotions, starting with fear, sadness and even anger while finishing with happiness and excitement caused by our shared victories. But despite all this, we couldn’t be more grateful for this experience. We are grateful that we’ve come together as a team, showing that we can do it. We’ve proved that for us, agility isn’t only another buzzword, but something that truly defines us as a team. And the measures we’ve taken on the basis of our survey also highlight this fact.

The employees are in favour of a gradual comeback, which is why in the next month, each team will only come to work once a week.
As employees want to work remotely more often, we’ll dedicate two days per week to remote work (or more if anyone wishes so or lives far away from the HQ). One of them will be Friday as we already know that people like to leave work a bit earlier on Fridays, making sure their weekend lasts a bit longer. Additionally, Fridays are known for traffic jams. I’ve recently observed this remote work trend in Chicago, where Fridays were a lot more peaceful as other days. The next day for remote work will be Tuesday as we wish every team to plan their processes on Mondays and then proceed with the tasks from Tuesday on.
Together with employees, we’ll evaluate their home office situation (from their desks and office chairs to computer screens and internet connections) and make sure that everyone has everything they need for remote work.
No hugs for the next few weeks. :)
In the coming months (and even after that), it’s more important than ever to stay at home if feeling unwell and only coming back to work when feeling completely healthy again.
We’ve also created a Manual for Remote Work that will help both existing and new colleagues to adapt to the new situation. You can get your copy below (currently only available in Slovene).

Get your Remote work manual PDF

With these changes, we aim to:

1. Improve productivity.
2. Reduce the number of sick leaves.
3. Reduce the employees’ commuting time and enable them to focus on other activities instead.
4. Optimise commute and operating costs.
5. Save mother nature some CO2.

And a big thanks again to the whole team! None of this would have been possible without all of you breathing as one when it mattered most.

Sources:
*https://buffer.com/state-of-remote-work-2020

Miha Lavtar

CEO

Founder and CEO of Optiweb, who started his entrepreneurship journey at the age of 19. My vision is to build companies with heart and soul which was already recognized by 5 different HR awards.

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Quarantine: Remote Work Insights and Our Plans for the Future

Never has communication been more crucial

Motivation and feelings? A bit turbulent

What do we miss most when working remotely and what do we like most?

What has surprised us the most positively in this corona situation?

And the way forward?

Get your Remote work manual PDF

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Miha Lavtar

CEO

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