Prototyping a New Work Life
This is week 16 of working as a distributed team. It started out with being isolated from each other, having no idea about when we’d meet in real life again and when we’d ever sit on our beloved yellow sofa. Before summer? Before the end of the year? Today’s technology was obviously a massive aid to let us continue working but the jokes are just never as funny on a (video) call. With loosened restrictions, some of us have started to bike or walk to the office which has been a very welcomed relief — especially by the ones with kids at home.
Nevertheless, these times have forced us to rethink our behaviour, to act differently and to prototype new ways of working. And most importantly, how to stay connected with your co-workers and on-board new members in the most welcoming way possible. Here is some of our best advice on how to get through this as a team.
The Another Tomorrow Team
Prototype your work life
Since prototyping is at the core of everything we do, the whole team got the chance to test and iterate in order to find their preferred way of working during this radical uncertainty — depending on our private life situations, where we’re located and when we deliver our best work. So, in-between mandatory check-ins and staying connected on Slack, some work more in the evenings, from different locations within Sweden and as we’ve become a global team with an office in Singapore, we even work in different time zones. At Another Tomorrow, we don’t believe in 9 to 5 if it doesn’t suit you, particularly in these times. As long as you deliver and take part in obligatory meetings, it doesn’t matter where you are or at what times you do your job.
Three Top Tips:
Avoid back-to-back meetings, give yourself at least five to fifteen minutes in-between them
Go outside
Work in different locations (if possible), even moving from the bed to the couch can be exciting. Wild one: Go to a café or hotel bar
Make an effort
“Can’t join”, “Need feedback on this asap”, “Nope” - How does this make you feel? Stressed? Unappreciated? Since we’re dependent on Slack, Teams or any other messaging tool and we can’t see each other’s facial expressions or hear each other’s voices, make sure that your message doesn’t cause any misunderstandings. This applies to emails, too. Not many things are more annoying than sending a well-written email with important questions and then receiving the response “Sounds great”. Taking your time to write proper answers in Slack or reply to emails in a professional way will make communications so much easier and avoid misunderstandings. Even adding the ever so popular emojis (mainly for instant messages) will most likely help to make your colleagues feel more appreciated rather than sending them incomplete sentences.
Pro tip: Custom emojis. We’ve got a great selection of custom emojis that spice up any conversation.
A selection of custom emojis on Slack
Check in on each other — a lot
Mental well-being should not be underestimated and asking the simplest of all questions is still (and now more than ever), extremely important. We are not just working remotely, we are working remotely during a pandemic. And now, with protests going on and social media being flooded with information on the #BlackLivesMatter movement, it should be on your priority list to talk to your colleagues about it (even more so, if they are POC). Slack them, call them, FaceTime them. Some of your colleagues are probably going through a lot, they might feel lonely, frustrated or scared so make it your responsibility to check in on them weekly.
The power of thought-through gestures
After our first week of working remotely, we all got a big bouquet of flowers delivered to our door with a note saying "May these uncertain times bring us closer together! Have a fantastic weekend. Virtual hugs from Another Tomorrow".
Before the Easter weekend, everyone received a greeting from the Easter bunny including some chocolate, prosecco and a card. The biggest surprise was a three-course-dinner menu from a restaurant to prepare at home. Our Creative Director even went the extra mile and added a bottle of wine and a very Swedish thing called mjukost to each bag (look it up and try it at your own risk). As an employee, it is so important to feel respected and appreciated, and sometimes a little bit of luxury can make one’s day or weekend. Just make sure you get all the food intolerances and allergies right…
Meet up
… if you can. Here in Sweden, we are able to do so and even though we’re all working from home, we’ve met up for walks outdoors while being able to keep distance. The opportunity to enjoy nature and having a person-to-person chat can release stress and help you focus once you get back to your screen. If your country still has the lockdown in place, take a walk and call a co-worker, sit on the balcony or maybe just open a window while speaking to them.
Virtual Fika, After-Works and Morning Check-Ins are obviously a great way to connect with the whole team. Just make sure, there’s some sort of agenda in order to avoid the “awkward silence” that we all probably know quite well by now. Games, quizzes, check-ins with Mentimeter are a great and engaging way.
Cut your boss some slack
If you don’t feel happy, if there’s a problem, speak to your manager or boss. A thought-through email, a phone call, there are many ways of tackling this (sometimes uncomfortable) conversation. But remember, this situation is new for all of us. Just as you, your boss is doing their best to get through this (whilst being a leader) so make sure you tell them how much it’s appreciated once in a while.
Text: Communications Manager, Linnéa Axelsson Lindgren, linnea@anothertomorrow.io
