Remote work in Budapest and Dubai: Bright Box’s case
Our company employs about 150 people in five countries — Hungary, the UAE, Russia, Hong Kong, and the USA. For more than 10 months, the company offices have been empty and the employees have moved to remote locations. A few months ago, we gave up the office in the US altogether. Today, we want to talk about how this process was organized in Hungary and the UAE, countries where we have quite a few teams.
Emma, HR & Office Manager of the Budapest office:
In Hungary, the restrictions were not the same as in Russia. The offices were not officially closed, but it was recommended to not visit them, and this recommendation is still in effect. Most companies now use 5–10% of their offices.
At the same time, cafés and bars were open. In my opinion, this was quite a risky decision, because now the number of cases is rising sharply. Nevertheless, most Hungarians are responsible and choose places for recreation where they can social distance.
Our office staff were divided into two camps, as they probably were everywhere else. Team members who were worried about the coronavirus were happy to be able to stay home and be completely safe. Many of those who were hired at this time noted that they were happy to work from home because they had wanted a home office previously, so this was an advantage for them. Other team members found it difficult to work from home because they had children who made it difficult to pay attention in a confined space. Since Budapest never banned office visits, they come to the office and work in the usual format.
After almost 10 months, the entire team has gotten used to the pandemic, and we can work effectively both at home and in the office.
Hadi, Operations Manager of the Dubai office:
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Dubai, there was a complete lockdown for about one week. We couldn’t even go to the office if we had to — the government measures were very strict. Thanks to two news sites (www.thenationalnews.com and https://u.ae/en/information-and-services), we could keep track of what we could and could not do. Our government was very serious about enforcing all the rules.
In transitioning to remote working, we followed four priorities:
- Provide all employees with the necessary equipment to continue working off-site.
- Hold short meetings as needed with a small number of people in a coffee shop to prioritize tasks for the week.
- Hold regular phone calls and online meetings to share up-to-date job information.
- Work the same business hours as would be worked in the office.
With the removal of some restrictions, our technical and operations teams returned to the office to handle their backlog of tasks. It is important for these teams to be able to work from the office at least a couple of times a week. I prefer to work from the office two days a week and work from home the other days. During the quarantine, I felt that our team’s productivity decreased because of the poor mood due to the lack of in-person communication with colleagues. It’s good that we are allowed to visit offices in Dubai now and it’s not necessary for everyone to work remotely.
Daria, Chief Human Resources Officer
With all the offices working remotely, it was important for us to monitor employee morale. Therefore, we did pulse surveys to stay in touch with colleagues and learn what activities would be interesting to people in a remote format to lift the mood and offer support from the company. The survey results were unpredictable. Here’s what employees voted for:
- ”Wake Up with HR” was a daily morning exercise that anyone from any of the offices could join. However, this format of communication did not last long.
- ”Coffee Break” was an online room that everyone could join from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. to socialize or spend lunchtime with colleagues from all offices, discuss the news, and just chat informally. “Coffee Break” lasted a little longer than the morning exercise, about three months. Many employees were not ready to spend their working time on informal meetings. They preferred to do chores at home during breaks.
- ”Online Games” — Some people voted for online games because they wanted to play against each other as they sometimes did in the office. We created a chat room on Telegram where they could arrange team games at their convenience. This activity is still popular today.
Before the pandemic, the company already had Management Talks. At the end of each quarter, a team of top managers prepared a presentation for the employees of all offices with a story about the company’s results and forecasts/plans for the next quarter. This allowed all employees to keep their hand on the pulse, to avoid a “suspended” state, and to ask questions directly (or anonymously) to the top managers of the company. Those who couldn’t attend the meeting in person were always connected to Management Talks via Zoom. With the onset of the pandemic, we simply moved Management Talks to a completely remote format and continued to keep employees informed in this mode.
Despite the fact that the offices in Hungary and the UAE did not have long, strict attendance restrictions, most employees noted the lack of in-person communication with their colleagues. Bright Box has always distinguished itself precisely by the fact that office teams regularly communicate with each other in offline formats. Nevertheless, employees already believe that this year we will be able to get together. Some colleagues have become close and have found friends through activities that would not have been organized if it were not for telecommuting.
