It's been 1 year since COVID was named a global pandemic. That announcement kick started a global transition for many who could to work remotely - including our Clinked team. We were fortunate to quickly transition to being a remote working team and shift focus on working remote effectively to provide the best services to our clients to meet their changing demands.
As we hit this anniversary, we took a moment to reflect on the impact of being a remote working team. By asking questions about their experiences and feelings a year in, we're happy to report the top finding is our remote working team is incredibly resilient! Not only did our remote working team come together, but they've found ways to laugh and work together better during these challenging times.
Let’s see what they had to say & learn from them.
#TheMoment We Became a Remote Working Team
You may have noticed last week that many were sharing their stories of “Where were you when…” moments. As a team that enjoys travelling, we usually have a team member or two away from their home working remotely effectively. On the day, many of us were in our homes when we learned of the severity of COVID however, some were travelling - on different continents!
One of those was our Chief Revenue Officer, Sarah Broderick who was in California for a conference that was cancelled mid-flight while crossing the Atlantic.
Here’s what she had to say:
“Wow, thinking back to March 2020 is surreal. I heard the news sitting in an AirBnB in California then immediately scrambled to arrange a return flight back to the UK. The uncertainty being away from home and sorting out whether I could return safely sits uneasily with me a year later.”
Cha-cha-cha changes: How long?
We decided quickly to go 100% as a remote working team. When lockdowns first started, we all felt prepared transitioning to remote work with 90% reporting being prepared with technology - we are a SaaS collaboration tool after all!
In our homes, some of us were more prepared than others. We were 50/50 on workspace setup & internet connectivity, but we all got there in the end.
As we all shifted into our new rhythms of working remote effectively, check a new hires story here:
How I adjusted to remote work! Confessions of a new hire
We had no idea how long this would last. In fact, when we asked the question “When we started working remote, how long did you think it would last?” 90% thought it would be 3-6 months. Only one guessed a year!
Got 99 Problems, but a Commute ain’t 1
Earlier this year, the FinTech Times put out the results of a great research project from Atlas Cloud on the sentiments of employees of Financial Services businesses in the UK. One of the key findings was that these people saved on average 90 minutes per day not commuting to. They reported splitting that time - not surprisingly - between working 40 mins more and 50 more minutes on leisure activities. What leisure activities you ask?
Our remote working team when asked had similar findings - with 1 key difference - SLEEP!
We must have been really tired as 80% of us reported increasing our sleep time.
We also picked up new hobbies. Physical activity was the leading hobby picked up. Followed quickly by crafts and baking.
The funniest new hobbies?? Extreme cake making, starting a saltwater reef tank & learning the guitar. That’s it - we’re throwing in the towel on software to start a cake eating band that plays in a saltwater reef!
Stronger Together
The team that sticks together, makes it through together. Whether spending time physically or virtually, making it through a challenging time can really bring people together. That’s the same for personal and professional relationships. At Clinked, we’ve been focussed on building our remote working team relationships throughout the pandemic in lots of ways from weekly team challenges to virtual water coolers.
Curious to learn how we’ve done this for our team? Learn how here:
Since we’re a social team, working remotely effectively hasn’t always been easy. We like to be near others so it may not surprise you that when asked why they miss most personally during this past year the team reported social activities. What were our tops?
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- Having friends over to my home - 80%
- Travel - 80%
- Dining Out - 70%
- Physical exercise with others - 70%
While we couldn’t be together, we made the most of opportunities to be together. When asked for their favourite team activity in 2020, it was a close call with our amazing virtual Christmas party topping the billing!
Being a Remote Working Team, Better for Balance?
Remember that FinTech times article? Well they asked those financial service professionals in the UK another great question on where to work. They wanted to know how these professionals prefer to work. Options included an office, at home, remotely or a hybrid. The reported results, “almost two-thirds (63%) said that they would prefer hybrid-working – a blend of home, office, and remote work – after the pandemic.”
They are not alone in this either. A study by Wainhouse Research found that over 80% of workers wanting to remote work at least 50% more when back to “office work”:
“Clearly, the office workspace continues to change. In fact, more than 80 percent of employees working remote say they’d like to continue to work remotely at least 50% or more once they do return to the office,” said Craig Durr, Senior Analyst with Wainhouse Research. “But, to accomplish this, employees have to have a healthy, safe and secure conference room experience that meets the needs of today’s emerging hybrid workforce. Zoom is well positioned to provide this.”
We asked our Clinked team the same question, and the result was overwhelming at 100% preferring hybrid. Meaning we will continue to be a remote working team!
Given this we will be keeping this practice going forward. We will allow remote working teams to work in a hybrid setup where they have a blend of time at home, in an office or in a co-working/remote environment.
Looking to join a new team? We’re hiring ;)
Our Clinked remote working team has been able to succeed throughout the year for a lot of reasons. Leadership & camaraderie are two keys, but technology has been our red thread throughout.
If you’re keen to understand how we’ve succeeded, why not have a look at how Clinked works - it’s what we use everyday with our team to collaborate & work better together.
Schedule up a time to talk with our team on how you could do the same with yours by booking in here:
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