A balance sheet after 45 months

Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, I have been working completely from home. What was a step full of deprivation for many feels right to me ever since. On the one hand because waves of infection can still completely knock out some teams within a short time, but on the other hand because I was able to get more balance into my life personally. I love the home office. And I don’t want to go back to the office.

I like to get up in the morning calmly and start the day at my own pace. Without the alarm clock ringing. Without having to come to terms with my partner about who goes to the bathroom first. Without having to listen to the traffic report and estimate how long it would take me to get to the office. And without having to stand to the fullest with sometimes stressed and grumpy people. I save myself the commute to work and that slows things down.

Recently I was taking out the garbage in the morning and a neighbor was standing next to me. She was in a hurry, talking on the phone with her iPhone in one hand and trying to open the bin with the other hand while holding the garbage bag. She was overwhelmed at the moment and let it out by angrily hissing some work instructions into the phone. I suspect her day was over before it really started.

I know that feeling and I hated it when it hit me. How often have I come to the office stressed and found it difficult to shake off my discontent. On those days, I would withdraw, avoid those around me, put on my headphones, and work off my list. Just don’t touch. A self-protection that some also saw as a moody character trait: “Oh, he’s having a bad day again!”

However, more balance in life also means that I can go jogging during the breaks or have lunch with my partner. On the one hand, I am more balanced and, on the other hand, I am more aware of what affects them and us. That’s a good feeling, especially now that we’re expecting a baby and can share thoughts, feelings and tasks at any time – without waiting for the end of the day to come.

I suspect that the home office will also bring advantages in terms of the compatibility of work and family. However, this experience is yet to come. Let’s see what’s coming. My commute to work might then be to take the little one to the day care center, but that alone will happen. I don’t have to turn off afterwards and squeeze into the rush-hour traffic to get to the office. I just turn around and go home where I can work in peace.

But it is also true that I am not a home office beginner. I’ve been working hybrid most of the time for the past 12 years. I know location-independent and asynchronous work. It drove me all the way to San Francisco, nine hours away from the team. In this respect, I know the pitfalls of online communication and the problem of invisibility. However, I have learned how cooperation can still work. I would say: I am a remote professional.

It’s easy for me not to procrastinate in my home office. Rather the opposite is the case. I am undistracted and slip into a flow for the first four hours of the day. In that time I can do what would take me at least six hours to do in the office. What is essential for working from home is clear agreements and target agreements. Everyone needs to know at all times what needs to be done and if it’s done. Otherwise trust is lost.

Of course, it is also a loss to only see your colleagues every few months when we organize a team event or a company party. I have the impression that the lack of closeness also means that a mental quality is lost, namely the relationship level. The spontaneous meetings in the tea kitchen, the unintentional conversations and the silly moments that happen when we all let it be in the office for a while.

We try to cushion this with digital meetups, but of course these meetings are not spontaneous, at least initially they feel like an appointment in the calendar, which in the end is still fun and exchange. It wouldn’t be possible without these Meetups. Contact with colleagues is important and, above all, there is no alternative. Because even the partner, or later one’s own child, cannot replace these people.

Some answers can only be given by the team members: How does the project phase feel for the others? Which decision is how? Last but not least, not all colleagues are lucky enough to have people around them at home. For them, the company is often like family. Then personal things are discussed: the date that ghosts. The gas bill that explodes. Or the dad who is sick.

Let’s not kid ourselves: Working from home is both a curse and a blessing and the view of it can’t just be black or white. For me, this way of working has mainly advantages, only a few disadvantages. Others feel exactly the opposite. The trick is to combine the advantages of both worlds without slipping into the disadvantages. This requires continuous exchange, a lot of feedback and sometimes criticism, as long as it is constructive.

I think working from home is here to stay. It is a technical achievement of the modern working world. But as with any technical achievement, we must also shape it socially. Where there is still a problem, it sometimes helps to believe in evolution, i.e. in the fact that neither man nor his environment is finished. But not only the hope, but also the will to shape must be there. For everyone involved.