The State of Limbo after one week in … well, Limbo.

One week ago, we told our employees to go home, and to stay there. We told our clients we wouldn’t be able to meet IRL for at least two weeks. We took deep breaths, washed our hands and crossed our fingers. We hoped for the best.

Hope is not a strategy

But hope — as we all know — is not a strategy (unless you’re Obama, but hey — you’re not Obama!). So it quickly became clear that we needed to implement new routines, revisit our tool box and come up with plans for coping.

Our routines and the tools that support them

The new routine is simple. As in very. Two check-ins every day. One at 9.15 and one at 15.00. A quick orientation of what’s what and what’s new. A quick round of the home offices, just to hear each other and try to get a sense of togetherness. And another touch base in the afternoon.

Some of us like to talk about what we’ve been doing during the day, and some of us get so sick of talking about the same clients and projects twice a day, that it makes us want to gouge our own eyes out, so we talk about something else; what we had for lunch, what we’ve been doing when we haven’t been working, which games we play when we’re on breaks, home exercise programs etc. Anything, basically. Just to let each other know, that we’re there, and that we’re still relatively sane.

We’ve tried different tools for online meetings, but since we’re already knee deep in G-suite, we’ve ended up using Google Meet. And it works like a charm across all 20-some home offices.

Online office buzz

In between meetings we use slack more than anything. It gives you a nice sense of “office chatter” and togetherness. We’ve always used it, but now it is really proving its worth. Also, knowing that bursty communications is the way to go when working remote, using Slack seems like a no-brainer.

Fresh air and phone calls

Some of us also need air. And normally we do regular walk and talks (hate the name, love the concept). we’ve tried to hold on to those, even if it means walking in different neighborhoods and talking on the phone. 1-on-1s really work, so it’s nice to keep those up in a time of crisis too.

Just this morning I got dressed and “walked to work” (a quick stroll around the block in safe distance from the other humanoids) and touched base with two of my colleagues. It was nice.

Productivity is not a constant

Sometimes you’re a machine! sometimes you’re not. Sometimes everything you touch turns into gold. sometimes it turns into turds. That’s probably the way it’s always been, but it is magnified by the fact that you are sitting all by yourself. The challenge is coming to terms with that.

One way of doing this is setting up more small and informal meetings with the sole purpose of bouncing ideas and helping each other with getting out of the slumps and into the zone. It’s nice to get help and it is equally nice to help others. It releases all of those yummy endorphines that we all know and love.

Merger in the midst of the virus

Since merging around new-years, we’ve been working on getting our two locations to work together. That is a big job, and we’ve been very focused on getting it right, so naturally, when something like this happens, you fear that it is going to be a setback. Luckily, it went the opposite way! People are actually talking even more across offices, joining the online meeting early and staying late, just to hang out.

So if we are to take anything positive away from a shitty situation, it is that we have truly gotten closer by staying apart 🤗

Still open for business

So here we still are. Offices closed, business open. Still looking for people to join our team, and still ready to kick off new projects.

How are you doing?