I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all been struggling at some level to adjust to this new normal. For those of us fortunate enough to be able to work from home, it’s not just adjusting to working fully remotely—it’s also dealing with headline fatigue and the stress of looming economic uncertainty, trying to homeschool and/or keep your children alive and fed while also working, coping with a friend or loved one who’s sick, supporting someone who’s unemployed or at risk of losing their job, or feeling isolated and alone. It’s A LOT.
We wanted to hear from our community on how they’re staying connected … while staying apart.
Lisa Hufford, our CEO and founder, [virtually] sat down with a handful of our experts—a group with 60+ combined years of remote work experience (!!!)—to talk about remote work in this current environment, from leading remote teams and creating an at-home work environment to communicating with empathy. Here’s the full conversation.
Huge thanks to everyone who joined us and to our amazing presenters: Mary Cronkhite-Johns, Maura Donaghey, Hai Duong, and Monica McNeal.
The chat window was lively during the virtual conversation! Here are a few of my favorite comments and suggestions:
“Home schooling is not working!” Same, Daniel H., SAME.
“We've been doing virtual coffee chats on Wednesday morning and including families in the chats. And a women's virtual lunch on Mondays.” Love these ideas, Linda B.! We may need to replicate at Simplicity HQ!
“Is it ok to wear yoga pants EVERY DAY?!” Another hard same. Carrie M., you are all of us.
From Sydney T.: “A few fun digital games you can play with friends are Fibbage, Drawful, or Lie Swatter. Check out Jackbox games.”
And from Farida S.: “I started a notebook to take 5 minutes a day to write down my challenges and during the night I spend 15 minutes to think about those and see how I can work on those for the next day :)” Yes, Farida! We just instituted a daily morning Gratitude & Goals video meeting. It’s been wonderful to start the day with a grid of smiling faces and an outpouring of gratitude.
“I use TimeTrade to help with ensuring that I have a buffer between conversations by setting up ‘rules’ for when I forget to do it for myself on Outlook.” Hot tip, Erica L. I will definitely be giving this a whirl.
And lastly, a few remote work resources:
Stay connected while staying apart: Our team shares their tips for working remotely—ranging from tech hacks to self-care reminders.
5 tips for staying productive (and sane!) while adjusting to remote work: To everyone who's adapting to working from home for the first time, this one's for you.
5 tips for successfully managing remote employees: Remote work is still just work. If these sound like just being a good manager—they are! However, these best practices are even more important when dealing with remote workers.
Our founder and CEO, Lisa Hufford, shares in Forbes what skills are in demand, how to build confidence and credibility, and thinking outside the traditional employment model.