The New Normal
Our company culture has long taken into consideration remote clients and a distributed workforce of Originators (what we call ourselves). From off-site management to delivery of fully built digital products, we have working remotely covered.
Here is a look at some of what we are doing to keep ourselves moving and shaking (while staying in business!).
1. Crossword puzzles
A tried and true Originate classic, the Crossword puzzle. In normal circumstances, we do them almost daily, by Zoom and in person. These days, using a Zoom link we run a few crossword puzzles a day. People who are free can easily jump on and off as they are available. The New York Times and The New Yorker are both great resources. Kids, roommates, partners, friends…all are welcome!
2. Open a Zoom Line for general company usage
This is not meant for meetings or any specific use other than to keep each other company. People are often muted or have the sounds off but keep the screen up in the background for the company. Pro-tip: if you are working from a single monitor but have an iPad at home, it’s a good place to leave it open so the window doesn’t get lost behind whatever you are working on.
3. New slack channels for things like pets and kids
Open slack channels! For any kind of safe for work shenanigans you can think of: pets, babies, news, crossword talk, all of it! Our people tend to already do this on their own, but you can easily encourage it via slack.
4. Introducing kids on video calls and normalizing them being home too
This is new for everyone. We all have kids, partners, roommates, pets, a whole world living and working from home! Normalizing that is going to take time but we are encouraging wherever possible for people not to have to apologize for it. Especially for those living in small spaces, there are only so many places to go, be kind to your co-workers and let them know they are not alone.
5. Regular Updates
Our CEO is sending out updates on a regular basis, and getting everyone aligned on not only the work and progress of our company but also on how we’re reacting to the pandemic, and any other relevant company-wide news. It’s important to do everything we can to maintain course and culture in this trying time.
6. Covid Committee
We assigned three people in the company, all in different regions, to be points of escalation specifically related to COVID19. This means confidential disclosure of positive testing, financial concerns and questions, general anxiety, etc. We created an email that goes directly to them and is otherwise confidential so people have a safe and designated place to turn.
7. Zoom Hang
We’re all bound to get a bit stir crazy (and lonely). So we are using Zoom in every which way we can think of. One of those is a company happy hour we are planning to have on Fridays until this blows over. You don’t really have to drink (but it’s welcome for those who want to), the idea is to let off a little steam and see some faces before going into a weekend likely consisting of just the faces you live with.
