Portrait Marketing Director Kerstin Wilke

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Kerstin Wilke

The third week in the home office is behind us. Working from home is basically nothing new for communicode, so we were well prepared for it, both technically and organizationally. Everyone has laptops and mobile phones and is used to working and coordinating appointments virtually in a team and with our customers.

## communicoders move closer together at a distance.
Almost all of our processes are digitized - decentralized work with remote customer teams is our everyday life. Here and there there were minor disruptions of a technical nature and short delays due to the "move" home. However, this has now come to pass. Here the much-quoted thesis fits quite well: What can be digitized will also be digitized. Video calls are exhausting - everyone says. But that works fine. We can work and are very happy about it. Most people appreciate the fact that they have more peace and quiet and are more concentrated when working from home. Team and customer meetings are also disciplined and productive. We are proud of that. And suddenly there is no more scrambling for the meeting rooms ;-).


## Transparency and open communication are lived values
From the beginning, the communicode management has observed what is happening in the world and shared the effects on our economic and private environment with all communicoders. We have proactively prepared for possible restrictions. At the beginning of the crisis, everyone was therefore recommended to work from home. A week later, contact was blocked and home office became mandatory for most communicoders. Now it is all the more important to create transparency about tasks and progress in the project and to keep in touch with the team. Furthermore, the management team regularly conducts personal discussions on the situation and mood of the individual. In the team chat there is a lively exchange on all topics and questions in this context - including critical ones, which the board is happy to answer. This strengthens trust in the community of communicode. We speak just as openly with our customers and partners.

## Together, but no longer side by side
Although we are around 115 communicoders at our location in Essen, we maintain personal interaction in our community. Habits that we have grown fond of, such as our monthly open space with eating pizza together and finishing off at the end of the day, are now taking place virtually. The same goes for our mindful timeout each morning. In virtual rooms we meet for coffee and exchange private matters and tips for leisure activities at home - almost every day. Ideas such as dressing up pets, joint strength training, the small cooking school are photographed or recorded and shared. It's good to see colleagues on the display in their usual fan shirts or their children crowding into the picture with curiosity. Bravo, how they manage to reconcile it all! All of this is evidence of the great interest in each other. Besides the common ground “work” we really like each other!

What we already knew in theory, we now experience at first hand. Even the best sound and picture quality is no substitute for personal interaction. But it helps to stay together even apart, not to lose sight of the common goals and to be sensitive to the needs of the other.

## Digital together
The economic consequences of this crisis affect almost every company in almost every industry. Assistance and campaigns in countries and cities are just starting and should help to get through this phase. Even if the scope for action is often limited, it is worth continuing to think about the digitization of business processes or discussing ideas for new business models. Together with our technology partners, we would like to make it easier for you to get started with further digital projects. Our system manufacturers offer license-free software or modules for this. We would be happy to check together what is interesting and useful for you and supplement this offer with a free service on our part.
<a href="https://www.communicode.de/aktuelles/news/gemeinsam-handeln-in-corona-kundenzeit" target="_self" rel="nofollow">You can find out more here</a>


How we want to continue our work in Corona times and at the same time help retailers with our offer.

Screenshot mit communicode Mitarbeitern im Teamsmeeting in der Coronazeit 

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communicode - cohesion despite Corona

## The communiversum – the name says it all
**Working from home, virtual meetings, digital tools: all under circumstances that have radically changed the lives of all people overnight and will have a lasting impact. If someone had described this scenario in 2019, it would hardly have been taken seriously. And yet all communicoder have been working remotely from each other in the home office ever since.**

### Home office 365+
As already described at the beginning of the pandemic, the conversion of the processes was not difficult thanks to the digital tools that were already in use at communicode. Smaller digital gaps have now been closed and we have found that the more integrated and networked the tools are, the better the cooperation works. What's more, the better we are prepared for changes and can react pragmatically and spontaneously...
We experience it first hand: working successfully from home is not a question of technical expertise, but rather of active communication. Certain agreements and rules for video calls and conferences have been established and make life and work easier. Coupled with a good dose of empathy, dealing with them even improves. Our meetings are not getting fewer, but shorter. And more focused. What was initially very exhausting and unfamiliar has now become routine.
In addition, we certainly tried every good tip from the media and numerous ideas of our own so as not to lose the connection to each other, even at a distance and outside of work. However, a certain fatigue after such a long time cannot be denied.

### Does more flexibility also mean better quality of life?
Almost all communicoders were only exceptionally in the office last year. If we still had a problem with space at our location at the beginning of 2020, since the first lockdown we have seen a gaping emptiness in our offices. Colleagues who live further away appreciate the new situation in particular, as they no longer have to travel to work, which is often associated with stress. Apart from the fuel, costs and time that are saved, this has a positive effect on most people's biorhythms and gives them a noticeably better quality of life.
Unfortunately, the other side of the coin is the isolation in your own home, especially during this exceptional situation. In addition, there is a complete lack of a predetermined structure of the day into work and leisure sections. The spatial conditions at home are often not ideal and also not so easy to change, especially in families with children. Being able to work flexibly in terms of time and place is undoubtedly a great advantage, but mustering creativity and discipline for your own best structure is a challenge for each individual. The call for a vision of working together in the office is getting louder, because we miss each other and our long-standing customers and partners as well as our traditional company parties. Almost everything takes place online, but how wonderful would the hustle and bustle before and during a trade fair feel or how long ago was a summer party with photos and videos of the event still a topic of conversation...

### Home office 365+ becomes Remote first
Against the background of falling incidences and increasing vaccination rates, it is time to think about our future working environment in the communiversum. Come to the Ruhr area or stay where you live: The realization that communicoder does not have to be on site all the time to work productively and transparently for everyone involved is irreversible. The commitment and discipline of our colleagues have proven this beyond a doubt. Therefore, the thought that working from the home office will become a permanent fixture is not far off. But we're going one step further here: Today we can imagine communicoder being able to freely choose their place of work. Then nothing would stand in the way of a longer stay with the family - at a more distant place of residence. Just like looking after the house and animals with friends, to name just a few examples. Important: It would then be the responsibility of the individual to set up their work environment equivalent to their tasks.

### More communicoder despite less space
As an agile company on a growth course, there are even advantages when it comes to recruiting employees. Preferred candidates do not have to move and can even be at home in a neighboring country. That would make our community even more diverse and colorful than it already is. The growth of our agency would then also be much more independent of the current office space, because these are no longer used by everyone at the same time. The right to a permanent desk of your own automatically gives way to desk sharing. Internal apps make it easy to organize who will find space in the office when and where, and who you might be able to meet for a meal or just a coffee.

### Where is the corporate culture?
The remote first strategy may not be a problem for the experienced communicoders, but it is definitely for new employees and trainees.
However, there is a "tiny" catch: communicode has always been a company that values diversity and community. Different types with the same target agreement and still remain who you are: We want to get to know each other (get to know each other) and experience each other - grow together and with each other. One of our greatest strengths was and is the close connection and interest in the personality and development of the individual. Keep learning together and stay curious is our credo. Friendships are formed, among each other and also with customers and partners. All of this has significantly shaped our corporate culture and values and is still very important to us.


### Improvement is our goal
The pandemic will therefore continue to cause a major upheaval for us, albeit less in the area of digitization. Forming a corporate culture in which people experience togetherness even from a distance is our challenge now. How many encounters in the business premises is still useful and what do we need for this? In order to find out, we make our way together with all communicoders and discuss needs, wishes and framework conditions for our different teams. The topic of leadership at all levels must also be considered intensively.

However, one thing is certain for us: the classic office has become obsolete and now we want to reinvent our physical working world. We like to turn everything upside down in the truest sense of the word. We used to tear down walls and move around the house depending on the team we belonged to. Today we envision a comfortable working environment that is characterized by individuality in terms of shape, color and materials. Space for creativity, co-working and encounters or a break from work are equally important. We are convinced that not only the quality of our work results, but also the way we work and work environment counts in order to be successful in the long term. After all, we want to position ourselves even better for the changes that we at communicode would like to continuously advance and that the world still has in store for us.
Despite all the horror and drastic measures of this pandemic, we see great opportunities for the further development of our organization. The commitment to our location in the Ruhr area does not contradict this. On the contrary, we love our homeland and enjoy the advantages of an attractive place to work and live in the middle of Germany.
From time to time we will announce news about these topics and our communiversum here.


Working from home was the best way for us to protect communicoder from being infected with covid19. Now it's time to redesign our working world.

Grafik Mensch auf dem Mond im Sofa sitzend mit Laptop und Tisch.

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Home office 365+ … communicode goes remote

After a long 7 weeks in the home office, something like normality has now returned to us in this crazy Corona situation. The shop is running and we owe that to our tirelessly motivated communicoders, customers and partners. Continuing to work successfully together, even if not together, is the big topic in our everyday life. Working from home blurs the lines between work and privacy, which brings both opportunities and risks. We welcome tips and ideas from the media and are happy to share our best practices: what used to be the case is now all the more important and we are becoming even more aware of many things. 

## Communication and feedback culture 
As in the office or at workshops, appreciative and respectful communication with interlocutors is absolutely important. With phone calls, however, the other person's facial expressions cannot be seen and there is more room for interpretation with written messages than with the spoken word. With video conferencing, you can see and hear each other speaking, which makes things a lot easier. 

When you feel like your message has been misinterpreted, direct conversation is the best way to resolve many potential conflicts. 

At the same time, not every word should be “put on the gold scales”. The recipient of a message should pay less attention to individual words than to what is said as a whole. This makes it easier to keep the focus on the essentials and at the same time helps the working atmosphere. 

## Find a common rhythm 
The home office gives some of us new scope and flexibility. Longer journeys are suddenly no longer necessary, but so are the usual breaks with colleagues. For many colleagues, the new situation requires an adjustment in working methods and times. It is advisable to openly discuss in the project team/department whether the time that applies (for the office) also works in the new situation or whether it needs to be adjusted. We take into account the private situation of our employees. Empathy and mutual understanding are the order of the day here. 

## Regular working hours 
Just like in the office, regulated times for the start and end of work as well as breaks provide orientation. Especially with flexible working hours, transparency is important and the entry in your own or team calendar is the simplest solution. We at communicode have access to all calendars and can therefore also take them into account when planning appointments. 

## Virtual call waiting 
When we have short questions to colleagues, we have gotten into the habit of “knocking” via chat to see if the person has time for a chat instead of simply calling. 
Alternatively, we have set up virtual rooms for our teams, which you can join without image and sound and still be able to respond to questions. Anyone who has an appointment “somewhere else” simply leaves the room. 

## Meeting-free time 
Of course, communication in virtual space is particularly important and should take place intensively. Concentrated work on your own tasks, which you do on your own, is sometimes not that easy. It makes sense to secure enough time for this with the help of a calendar entry. I like to call such appointments "no internal appointments please" and am even politely reminded of it. 

## Online meetings 
Perhaps you will agree with me that the more people participate, the more difficult it becomes to conduct virtual meetings efficiently and in a targeted manner. Adhering to basic principles when dealing with each other in general and in meeting situations in particular is important enough in everyday office life, in virtual space there is “no alternative” if a meaningful result is expected. 


## Our common guide: 
#### No invitation without an agenda 
The agenda enables all participants and oneself to prepare for the appointment and to formulate questions (or even answers). Of course, this also applies to personal meetings. 


#### Active moderation 
In order to involve all participants in the dialogue, active and strong moderation is recommended. Pointing out this necessity due to the new situation right at the beginning of the meeting creates understanding on all sides. 


#### Who writes the minutes? 
The demands on the moderator are even higher in online conferences than in face-to-face meetings. Here as there, a note taker can be appointed who summarizes the results of the appointment and records the next actions. "Who does what by when" is a dictum for us. 


#### Plan generous breaks 
In online meetings, breaks are often forgotten. Depending on how experienced the participants are with online meetings and how familiar they are with the content to be discussed, attention can quickly be overstretched. Especially in longer webinars of online workshops, breaks should take place after 60 to 90 minutes and last about 15 minutes. This can be planned as usual in the agenda and addressed openly at the beginning of the appointment. 


#### Be on time 
Even if it's a question of general courtesy, punctuality is very important in online meetings. It is precisely here that repetition of content is tedious and exhausting. In the event of technical problems or other good reasons, the moderator/inviter should be informed of the delay by e-mail, SMS or similar. 


#### Say hello and your name 
Since not every online meeting uses a camera, it's helpful to say your name when entering the conference. Thus the moderator knows who is present. 


#### Mute the microphone 
To avoid distractions or acoustic problems caused by background noise, the microphone is muted when not speaking. Even if there are no sound issues, other participants may have trouble connecting. Any unnecessary background noise should therefore be avoided. 


#### No multitasking 
In virtual meetings in particular, there is a great temptation to do something else on the side. You should definitely avoid that. Your interlocutors will notice or see your inattention. This is rude and not very appreciative. 

 

Especially in times when working from home is becoming almost unavoidable, the boundaries between work and private life are blurring. Kerstin gives tips for better cooperation. 

 

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communicode - cohesion despite Corona

Home office 365+ … communicode goes remote

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