COVID-19 and Remote Work

We are living in challenging times with the coronavirus pandemic. More people are staying home and, now, need to figure out how to work remotely. Working from home is one way to work remotely though there are many other ways — co-working spaces, coffee shops, etc. With closures and states’ “shelter-in-place” orders, working from home is the only option. This can be extremely limiting and frustrating. But there’s also some things to be gained in this unfortunate situation.

Before COVID-19

I have been working remotely for over a year. My wife and I were expecting with our now 1 year-old son when I started. While remote, I was a Tech Lead for a critical payment solution, deployed to thousands of stores in the US. I was the only one remote, which made it a lonely experience. My wife is an Engineering Director at a large company. Her team is mostly co-located in a different city from where we live. She’s in the same boat. Between both of us, we’ve had pains and gains on remote Tech Leadership (I plan to write about it another time).

During COVID-19

Now, here we are with the same team and same roles. This time, we’re all working remotely, from home. It feels different. It’s challenging. It feels overwhelming at times. My wife and I take turns watching our son as he’s staying home from daycare. We can’t always predict when he naps or when he wakes up during the day. This makes it hard to schedule meetings or have decent chunks of time to work. It’s frustrating. It’s trying. But, it dawned on me that this is a true form of work-life integration for both of us.

Though challenging in many ways, our experience in the last 2 weeks has also been rewarding in other ways. My wife and I are no longer scrambling in the morning to take our son to daycare. We’re no longer spending time commuting back and forth from/to work and daycare. We’re cooking and preparing nearly every meal together at home. We’re taking shifts spending quality (and sometimes frustrating) time with our son when he’s awake. And we’re still getting our work done.

It has become clear to me that this time offers opportunities to re-examine and re-think our “normal” ways of working. To redefine and refine them as we make mistakes. To cut down on fruitless meetings. To be intentional, focused and efficient with using time. To reconnect with home and family members, which is equally important during these tough times. This morning, I had a video call with 6 of my best childhood friends. It was absolutely wonderful. We’re all split across 3 different continents yet we’re all in the same situation — all working from home. We all wanted to share our experiences during this time. It was much needed.

This time offers opportunities to re-connect with colleagues (old and new). My team and I started taking a bit more time during our stand up to joke around and check in with each other. And, yes, our huddles are running longer than usual but that’s totally OK. We often see someone’s kid or pet on video calls. We have ours on as well (when he’s not too wild). This should be encouraged during this time.

For my wife, she’s noticed she has way less meetings than there used to be. She’s feeling much more included and engaged, being one of the only leaders in a satellite office no longer feels like it matters.

The situation we’re in is very grim. If you’re struggling during this time, know that it’s OK. Connect with friends, family, and teammates. It will help. We’re in this together. We can and should help each other. We’ll get through it as we stay home and do our part in protecting ourselves and those around us.

After COVID-19

The world isn’t likely to go 100% remote 100% of the time when this is all over — and it will be over. It’s important, however, to take this time to make adjustments to our life and working style. This can be a time to adopt new techniques to organize time better, communicate better and be more efficient. At one extreme, we all become more aware and considerate of remote colleagues and how hard it can be. At the other, we all become better communicators and effective at work because of the techniques and tools we adopt during this time.

Closing thoughts

During this time, I count my blessings. I’m lucky to work for ThoughtWorks. Not only do we encourage remote work, but we also published a playbook to help leaders in the software community during this time of crisis. Other organizations, such as Basecamp, have been remote by design for roughly 20 years. They published a good book on the subject. They also put a stream on re-examining ways of working while remote. I found these resources to be essential during this time.

One last thought. If you’re on the front-line, we appreciate you. You are true heroes and we thank you for putting your life at risk every day to help others.

Stay safe and healthy.

Acknowledgment

Big thanks to my wonderful wife for being the strong technical leader she is, and for reading drafts of this article :)