Remote working - How we work

“How many articles and lists of suggestions have you read about remote working or working from home over the last 3 months?”

I bet you’ve read at least a dozen, if not more.

Rather then bore you with just another list of how best to WFH, or remote work, here is a little snapshot of how we work.

But first, here’s Nicola’s take on it:

So how do we work?

It starts with some principles we have which help guide our decision making.

Simply, they are:

Enjoy what we do … have fun
Be flexible / agile
Break the corporate norm … be innovative
Work as a team
Be dedicated to our customers, team and company

They set the tone for what we do, and have helped in countless ‘discussions’ we’ve had about how to approach a particular problem.

Let me break down a few for you:

“Do we work set hours, or need to be available during working hours?”

See point 2: Be flexible / agile. The answer is we don’t track hours we work. We track which is delivered and achievements. We understand people need and like flexibility in their lives, say you have kids who need to be entertained or home schooled for example… or you want to do some exercise on a lovely day so go to the park in the middle of the afternoon. As long as you deliver what’s asked of you no issues arise.

“So how do you stay organised, how do you know what you’re supposed to be doing?”

See point 4: Work as a team. Each Monday we have a planning meeting with the whole team which lasts about an hour where we discuss what we want out of the week, who is doing what, and how we aim to achieve it. We have a series of Microsoft Planner boards to help, with cards, deadlines, people assigned to each etc. They are reviewed each Monday to ensure we’re on track, and everyone knows what everyone else’s commitments are.

The rest of the week people can work as they like, juggling meetings and delivery around their lives. The only mandatory meeting we have is a 9.30am stand-up each day which typically lasts less then 30 minutes. Here we briefly review what we did the day before, individuals discuss what they’re doing each day, and any blockers or cross-over work is discussed and coordinated.

“Do you plan on moving back to an office environment when lockdown is over?”

After some discussion, we feel face to face meetings of the team are still really useful (As are face to face interactions with our clients), so we aim on having 1 ‘day in the office’ a week. These almost certainly won’t be in an office. See points 1: Enjoy what we do … have fun & 3: Break the corporate norm … be innovative. We have all sorts of interesting suggestions for this.

That gives you some insight into us as a team, where we take each individual’s health, mental and otherwise as critical to all with regular check-ins, to help and resolve any issues people have.

Some of these can be quite prosaic, like providing faster internet at someone’s home, or fixing a really noisy mouse that was infuriating someone over Teams Meetings.

Others are more complex, but all are better addressed then left to fester. Ultimately Simplify Change exists for point 1, Enjoy what we do … have fun, and all of this is part of that goal.

Lastly, how do I work remotely?

My day starts with my cat Blaze waking me up, followed by a coffee. That is Mandatory.

Next up is a review of my tasks on Microsoft To Do/Planner tasks (Personal, flagged emails etc)

I aim to achieve 3 major tasks to move us forward on our goals each day, so those are my major focus with other tasks fitting around them. I can literally bore you to tears discussing this. Maybe another blog topic another time.

Then I dive into email and various social media platforms and ongoing conversations i’m involved in until our stand-up.

Following this there are generally meetings or tasks to do in the morning before lunch.

Followed by tasks, meetings and phone-calls until I go for a run (5km-20km) to relax.

Cooking for my family, then a spot of blogging or digging into a book or a hobby finishes my day while I relax with them.

Routine is important, but so is mixing it up too. See points 3: Break the corporate norm … be innovative & 5: Be dedicated to our customers, team and company. I very rarely work normal hours, and quite enjoy working on Sundays as I can focus on something for hours. Working at Simplify Change allows that, and let’s me work how I want to work while providing excellent service. See point 5: Be dedicated to our customers, team and company. Making it an awesome fun place to work. See point 1: Enjoy what we do … have fun.

“Last but not least, what will you do when lock down is over?”

Work from Skiathos in Greece.

Keep Safe, Keep sane.

- Zayn