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. You can find out more here