A year of work from home

A year ago, we were all skeptical when the pandemic hit us and had to move work into our houses. This believed to be a short experiment just turned one year these last couple of days and, a year later, here we are, contemplating a life we had never thought we would have.   

Our kitchens and sofas were reinvented and declared workspace.  That not-so-used home office became the official office and we replaced sneakers and matching outfits with comfortable home wear. Behind four walls, online meetings became regular. A good internet connection was everything we needed for us to do our jobs. We changed the way we communicate, but we kept on doing our jobs. Technology, our business core, helped us not only perform, but it kept us together during this last year.  

A forever-change in the way we understand working 

More than a year passed since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic; a year with a massive impact on how we communicate, connect and create while living and working from our homes. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, every morning, I had the impression that it was a weekend day. I didn’t have to go through the routine of showering-dressing-eating and sitting in traffic to the office; I just had to move from one room to another. The good part is that I had more time for myself and less distractions while working. Despite that, the pandemic affected my social life and had a huge impact on social interactions – I couldn’t talk face-to-face with people and some new colleagues I haven’t even seen yet. (Sebastian Farcas – Software Developer) 

During this past year, WFH shaped us and gave us the opportunity to still drive engagement for our customers and their projects, maintain organizational agility, while being creative and still empowering teamwork.  

In my opinion, the amazing thing about the pandemic is that it gave something in common to a lot of people; most of the things it gave were problems, but within some of those problems there was great potential; many brilliant people took advantage of that – many of them even share their stories to help others grow. I learned a lot from individuals in my line of work, only by reading about their work and the solutions they found to certain problems. Of course, human interaction cannot be replaced; and it’s way easier to interact with others face to face especially as an HR; but I found out that with proper interactions the shortages of a home office can be easily dissipated and still have a great relationship with your colleagues. Nonetheless, I can’t wait for smoke breaks and lunch at the office. (Andu Olariu – HR consultant) 

work from home article

Productivity, responsibilities, and outcomes 

High performance is possible even when the working space resembles like home. Fewer interruptions, less and more efficient meetings, an office policy adapted to the online environments, clear responsibilities and so much time saved when it comes to commute and distractions – all the above have helped us being as productive as always, if not even more.  

2020 was a good year for us. We were honoured to be part of one of R&A’s most beautiful projects; The Open for The Ages, a special tribute to golf performance, born solely from technology and innovation. We also teamed up with R&A for their AIG Women’s Open; as our team delivered high-performance solutions – multisite by Sitecore, a new scoring platform integration, enhanced experiences through design features and an innovative approach to cookie policy. 2020 was also a highlight for us when it comes to Untold Festival; which created a beautiful and engaging event – My Untold Story, an online project we were happy to be part of. 

2020 was a challenging year for everyone. The digital landscape changed a lot and reinforced that the future belongs to technology, and our goal for this year and beyond is to keep adapting, innovating and building an exciting new future. (Traian Rus – CEO)

When the waiting be done 

When it comes to the future, many theories talk about a hybrid approach, combining remote work with coming back to the office – this way, productivity remains untouched, while the social and creative benefits of working in person with others will complete the cycle.  

At tec:agency, we implemented, as soon as things were possible and safety assured, a system in which part of our team kept on coming to office. Social distancing and health rules were all respected and implemented, of course.  Nobody really knows how the future will look; but we are missing the good old days when everyone drank coffee in the mornings, shared lunches and had face-to-face meetings to keep track of projects. Until the future happens, we will be trying to make the most of it and keep reinventing ourselves. 

If BC (before coronavirus) working from home was something I could choose since last year it has become mandatory. Initially, it was not such a big problem; I think we all understood that we were living an experience unknown to our generation, so we took it as such. I admit that for a while now, I’ve been feeling the “pandemic fatigue”, and I no longer feel like working from home just because I must, and I miss the actual office life. Even though working from home has its advantages, I have already returned to the office a few days a week. I think this pandemic has completely changed the way we work in IT: what companies offered as a benefit before the pandemic will turn into “I can work from anywhere, and I’ll only come in the office when needed.” In my opinion, companies that will not adapt to this will have some difficulties in the future. However, we, the project team, decided to meet once a week at the office because there is nothing that can replace human interaction and connection. (Andreea Honceriu – Project Manager)