Regularly working from home has become the norm for many of us in the last two years. In this article, Seervision CEO Nikos Kariotoglou shares his thoughts on the changing nature of the workplace.
The old days
Almost three years ago, a professional psychologist told me: “When people ask to work from home, they are looking for time to slack off. Believe me because afterwards, they come here and tell me about it”. There were two problems with his argument: the biased sample and the fact that effective working from home requires discipline. Pre-COVID this discipline was enforced by the office, so absence meant slacking. But not anymore. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we all now have significant training in working from home.
How we do it
There are an endless number of guides on how to make working from home effective. For us at Seervision it boils down to two things: embracing the tools required and improving the cadence of communication. We have had to make sure everyone has access to the same information and is on the same page, wherever they may be. On the fly documentation that is proactively shared and accessible to all is the new standard. Effective home office ninjas were already doing this pre-COVID so for them it was no different. In fact, it seemed like the world finally caught up and realised what it was all about. For regular office goers, this constant updating and documentation was new and they had to adapt.
By now, our communication and info-sharing rituals are the same whether we’re working from home or from the office. People now see themselves as more efficient, as they take advantage of the added flexibility and reclaimed transit time. We have however seen some surveys that indicate that teams perceive themselves as less efficient as a group, even if the individual members are more efficient. For us, combatting this means constantly improving our communication, removing information gaps and learning from each other to break barriers.
The future
What we see at Seervision is that a flexible hybrid setup provides the best of both worlds. Getting together at the office definitely has its merits: a change of scenery and the chance to experience that special “office atmosphere” that can be highly motivational. As long as we are all able to find our balance, the option to work flexibly is a great perk. To take advantage of that we are designing our new office space based on these principles. We are moving next month and I am extremely excited to try out new things and keep improving our setup, seeking that elusive optimal configuration.
Finally, let’s not forget that working from home requires a different attitude towards team culture. Can we build and maintain the same strong working bonds from a far? Can we foster loyalty and long-term commitment? At Seervision we are committed to protecting our human culture, whatever may come our way. This will require thinking outside the box and going the extra mile to connect not just as colleagues but also as people. We do this because we believe that in the long run, in the new world where working from home is the reality for most people, sticking with a company will be heavily influenced by your working relationship with your team. I will certainly work my hardest to make sure that we continue to build a working culture that reflects that.
Check out our recent interview with Nikos about working at Seervision here.