Working out loud
Here’s the thing they don’t tell you about working remotely: it gets awfully quiet when you’re in your home office.
As someone who has worked in open concept offices for the past five years, I’ve had to adjust to working in (relative) isolation. I’m based in London, Ontario and my office mates are in downtown Toronto (more to come on our remote work setup soon).
When I did work in open office space, I grew used to turning around and asking coworkers questions, getting quick verbal updates, debating important issues. We plan, coordinate, meet, draft, design, think, share with one another inside, but no one sees that. Essentially, we talk our way through the work to gather insight and feedback internally, but the work happens quietly.
As the founding editor of the Ontario Digital blog, I’ve been wondering a lot about ‘talking our way through our work’ in a more public way.
What if we could work out loud?
That’s what I’m hoping we can do here. This blog can be our virtual open office space — a space where we share our work with everyone reading. And where can talk about the work as it happens, rather than after it is done.
This requires a conscious team effort — each member of the digital team will need to stop, reflect and document (we don’t always do this with everything on the go). We’ll also need to shift our thinking, away from building up to one eventual outcome or announcement and towards shining a spotlight on our people, processes, habits, questions and challenges as we go. This is decidedly different.
Sharing this vision with you is my first stab at working out loud.
Please keep me accountable (either through responses here or on Twitter) for continuing to keep you up-to-date as we work to bring you a behind-the-scenes look at our work in digital, inside the Ontario government.
Getting this right will take some time, effort, patience, and a bit of vulnerability. Thanks for coming along on this journey — and for letting us be loud along the way.
