OMG, CORONA or better COVID-19 or even better a HOME-OFFICE virus has become a topic of discussions all over the world for 3 months. Here are a few insights from me. ๐
Okay, we know as developers, we like a workplace to get in the tunnel. It’s up to everyone. ๐
About my person: I am a 38 years young web developer and also mainly a commuter. My daily journey takes about 75 minutes each way from door to door or to the customer. And this about 4-5 times a week by train before the pandemic. Okay, I have trained myself very well to hack into the keyboard from almost anywhere. Especially preferred from a lounger by the hotel pool ๐ Also on the train or on the plane, it works very well (mocking data is a bi..ch, but it works fine for me). However, the catch is that it eats up a lot of your energy during long trips, and I noticed this especially during the pandemic – that I have now more of it. ๐ช ๐
But then the VIRUS has come.
I was really surprised how fast they reacted in Switzerland from one point on. It was rather easy measures from the BAG (Federal Office of Public Health) at the beginning in February until they were intensified on the 16th. On this day, when the BAG met, it took less than an hour until we were no longer allowed to stay in our client’s office. The trains were very empty that day anyway. Some freelancer friends of mine have stayed at home for 2 weeks to protect themselves. Let the virus game begin. ๐ฑ
Questions arose:
How do we work now? What do the meetings look like?
The interesting thing was and is that some companies had to switch from NO-HomeWork philosophy to a 100% HomeWork culture very quickly. It must now simply work like this. Right?
Since we at N47 already work very well with ZOOM and Slack across 2 time zones, it wasn’t a particular challenge for me personally. In my private life, I am also a few hundred kilometres away from my family and often make video calls with them and my godchild. โค๏ธ
But what about our clients? Can they switch as fast as we can?
But half as bad as I thought! Together we had everything under control very quickly ๐ค What was particularly rapid was the change in our meeting culture with the customers. In general, our meetings have become shorter and more effective as each participant is even more prepared for them. Working from home on the laptop or PC was also faster than onsite. There was no more chatting with colleagues during long lunch breaks or fetching coffee together. We are much deeper in the developer tunnel when coding and the tech calls between us are much more effective and focused than many meeting days used to be.
But now my self-assessment: I think I have also become much more productive and efficient during this time. More focus and even the time gap between bed and office – you know. ๐
Question: I am not the only one, am I? ๐ฑ
Who has such an assessment from himself, too?
I am not the only one ๐คช and sorry the graph is in German. ๐ฅบ
But either way here some facts from it. You can see that around 40% (the two green pies) have become much more or little more productive. Of course, there are households where it was the other way around. About 4% of the people mentioned that “productivity” had fallen sharply. I can well imagine this here if the childcare has to be clarified first and the kids should not necessarily be with their grandparents because of the virus. ๐
But I also have a little godchild who will surely see his uncle again soon. ๐
One more thing to mention:
Such a time is always very painful and it is very tragic for every single person who lost his life in this pandemic. Nevertheless, I also see in my actual environment that some people see this time as an opportunity and are not frightened to create something new. Some of them have spent the days with new business ideas or with personal self-experience in nature. There are always opportunities to see things differently and to emerge strengthened from fate. I am very proud of our project team. Especially of all the things we developed together in the time from February until the day of publication at the end of July.
But still, everything has a small flaw, that working together is missing – it makes us humans simply who we are. A community!
Keep healthy and happy. ๐
