One year of working remotely

March has always been a special month, filled with festivities and overall joy for, well… better weather (ish). 

For us, March got a new meaning last year. It was the month when our worlds turned upside down  and we had to reinvent the way we conducted our activities! Working from home became the norm. Difficult at times and exciting at others, we all learned to adapt and grow.

Since one year has passed, we wanted to look back at 2020 and reflect on our remote experience, by asking our colleagues to share their thoughts and learning moments.

What is the best part of working from home?

Below you can find, the Top Best Things mentioned by most of our colleagues who are working remotely.

1. No time wasted on commuting

This is the best part of working from home, mentioned by most of our colleagues. Many of them were spending around 1-2 hours on transportation, daily. Now this time can be dedicated to new activities.

2. More free time

When you save time on transportation, you suddenly have extra time for yourself. You can find new hobbies, invest in personal development or just relax and enjoy the little things.

3. More time spent with pets & our beloved ones

We can’t deny the fact that our pets are the happiest since we are working from our homes 😊 They receive more attention and play time is longer. Also, they’re great mood boosters and increase our level of happiness.

Happy workers=Better results.

4. Working in comfort and sleeping more

Home means coziness, quietness, comfort. We are privileged to have jobs that can be performed remotely. Setting a dedicated workplace at home is important, but this doesn’t imply a dress-code, which is great😊  Who wouldn’t love being able to work in yoga pants or pajamas?! Not going into an office means there is no need for business casual attire. As long as there are no Zoom meetings, no one will know the difference.

5. Being more focused & productive

Without the constant distractions of an office, our colleagues are more focused on their job and complete their tasks quickly, resulting in higher productivity. Being able to set their own productive hours allows them to work when they are most alert.

How did remote work change me? (personal and professional)

On the personal level: I feel much more relaxed, I am much more calm, more detached from "how you "should" act in a societal community". On the professional level: I became more responsible for my tasks, more engaged into the activity, I direct my energy into the work only (this is the best part). (Olga, Sales)

I discovered that I can stay equally productive and autonomous from home. I appreciate the freedom of moving around with a laptop and work. (Elena, Sales)

I feel lonely more often I guess, but it helped me concentrate on work better than I would in the office (Nadia, PM)

It changed a lot, making me more responsible and helping me understand that ambition is my power. It made me learn to rely on self-motivation, self-discipline, focus and concentration. Remote work allowed me to focus on what really matters- performance, the results I have are my greatest reward. (Anna, Sales)

It increased my potential and dedication (Igor, PM)

I certainly became less stressed and much more productive. I manage to perform times more tasks than I ever was from the office. (Rita G, Sales)

I started working much more because the work-life balance is slowly getting worse. By saying this I mean that your computer is always nearby so you start working even if the shift did not start or if the shift finished. When you are not at your computer, there is always the phone which you continue working from even during meals and breaks. One plus I can see though is that I became much more independent in terms of work. (Mike, Vendor)

Removed my hatred of video calls - the camera never lies...(Kirsty, Sales)

Everyone works much harder from home, it's a blessing in disguise. (Viorel, Sales)

Managed to improve the work–life balance. (Mariana, PM)

I would not say that remote work has radically changed me, I am still motivated and driven to achieve and learn more every day. Learning to focus in any surroundings is a valuable life skill, and will only help the professional career in the long run. (Cornelia, PM)

I feel much more productive and more calm, always trying to find my ZEN :) (Nina, Sales)

I have changed in a good way professionally, although it is not because of the WFH situation but the experience I gained with time. Personally, I became less social. (Liuba, PM)

Remote work gave me an opportunity to pursue my diverse interests and also bring out my inner sloth. (Dan, Sales)

Personally, I appreciate more the communication between colleagues. Professionally- I lack the physical training courses. I don’t really find the online training as efficient as the F2F ones. (Elena, Finance)

By having more free time I have more control over my life, so I enjoy working from home. Also the silence is providing me possibility to be more focused. (Sergiu, Sales)

Name one ritual you miss from the office and one new ritual that you developed during WFH

One ritual I miss: smiling at people when greeting in the morning; One ritual I developed: I meditate much more which helps me invest more positive energy in my work.  (Olga, Sales)

Missing the after-lunch coffee chats with colleagues. New ritual - Drink tea more :) (Elena, Sales)

I miss unloading the stress together with a bunch of colleagues at the balcony. Now though, I've got a habit of having a 30-min nap during my lunch break. (Alexandr, PM)

I miss getting coffee for the 5 minutes meetings with my friends. Since I am home, I have to actually prepare my lunch instead of just buying it. (Nadia, PM)

My favorite ritual was getting my morning coffee in the office but now I learned to make my own coffee from fresh coffee beans (Anna, Sales)

I miss the smoke breaks together with PMs and Friday nights out. On the other hand I've started cooking regularly and living a much healthier life in general.  (Rita G, Sales)

I really miss our coffee breaks with the team where we were going out and chatting about anything in the world but not work. This helped refresh the mind a lot. We found a way to keep our bond strong by meeting once in a month in small groups in our homes. (Mike, Sales)

I miss having my usual morning cup of tea or coffee while chatting with my co-workers. I think we all miss the social interactions, the funny and not so funny jokes, and the energy altogether. Speaking of rituals developed during WFH, I started having short meditation breaks of at least 3-5 minutes when I feel that there is huge pressure, stress, or much work to do. (Cornelia, PM)

Surprisingly, but I miss getting dressed for the office. Short coffee-breaks, communication with colleagues. The good part is that I spend now more time with my beloved ones, I’m using my time spent on commuting for house chores. (Elena, Finance)

I miss walking in the park, coffee-breaks, sarcastic jokes, celebrations in the office. Now, I’m more focused on myself, my needs, which were previously ignored. (Nina, Sales)

I miss the morning catch-up with everyone. New ritual: monthly team meetings to help us all feel together (or in it together) (Kirsty, Sales)

What is one thing that we used to do before WFH that you don’t see happening (or relevant anymore) when returning to the office?

If until now, working from home was a luxury/benefit offered by some companies and only dreamed by most of our Travodians, now we can’t imagine ourselves working the other way.

Making it mandatory to return to the office seems irrelevant now. Many people have gotten accustomed to WFH and would most probably prefer a hybrid work model, meaning that some days could be spent working from the office, while others in the comfort of your home.  When you work from the office, nothing sounds more amazing that a calm day indoors with your favorite blanket. When you work from home, you reminisce about making jokes with your co-workers and wonder if the coffee machine made good coffee that day.  Either way, it is important to choose the environment you’ll be more successful in and I think this will be possible once the pandemic is over.

Besides that, physical meetings will no longer be relevant, since you can do them successfully online (and have a slight control over your inbox at the same time, without bothering the other participants).

And of course, let’s not forget about Shaking hands :D. We are definitely changing our way of greeting one another, for our peace of mind and health reasons.