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Opportunities of remote working

This week, things started to get real regarding Coronavirus.

I had been organising an Area Speech contest for Toastmasters. An announcement came out that all face to face speech contests and conferences are to be cancelled. A decision then has to be made as to whether to just cancel altogether or rearrange an online version of the meeting.

I work at a University. All face to face lectures have been cancelled and the lectures will be going online. Contingency plans are being in place so staff and students can work from home. People are making sure they can access systems and they are geared up to communicate through Skype or Teams or some other software.

The government has closed schools. The schools are sending students home with timetables, homework packs and online resources to access. They kids are expected to keep the normal school routine but from home.

Apart from the downsides of there being no toilet roll, antibacterial hand wash or soap and dry pasta in the supermarkets. Are there some opportunities to change for the better?

Working from home (or anywhere)

Some people talk about being lost, stuck and don’t know what to do regarding their job. Some of it comes from the drudgery of the same daily commute. Sitting at the same desk. Working in the same building. Sitting alongside the same people. Repeatedly doing the same thing.

My employer has encouraged those who can work from home to do so. But it’s not just myself. It’s my wife as well. Then the schools have closed and are providing online learning environments. The kids also need computers. I have fished out old laptops and computers. Most of them haven’t seen the light of day for at least 5 years. But I have managed to get them up and running.

IT are gearing up to enable everyone to work from home. Or actually, to work remotely. Meaning you could work wherever you want. The library, a coffee shop,McDonalds etc. Actually, if you have an internet connection, you could work wherever you want in the world.

There is an opportunity here. An opportunity to get used to working anywhere.

Online meetings 

I have mentioned before I am a member of a public speaking group toastmasters. We meet every two weeks to improve our public speaking, communication and leadership skills. The headquarters are in Colorado, USA.

An announcement came out that all face to face regional events are to be cancelled. Then members started messaging to say they wouldn’t be attending club meetings.

How do you run a public speaking club if you can’t meet in person?

You go online

Within two days we held our first online club meeting. With video, so everyone could see each other. I had used FaceTime a few times but wasn’t really keen on it. I think I felt uncomfortable doing it. In this case I had to put it to one side to make the club run. It went well. It wasn’t perfect. It did create a sense of community. We all felt we were going to need this in the coming weeks and months.

I also started ringing my mum, dad and sister on a daily basis. I normally speak to my mum and dad once a week on a Sunday. I speak to my sister every now and again. This daily phone call has changed to a daily video call. This crisis has brought us closer together as a family.

My team at work has set up a daily video call so we can stay connected, check in with each other and stop everyone from feeling isolated. I think most of us felt a bit cringe about it at first. But we have done a couple of calls and everyone feels better about it.

Through video calling, we might feel more connected than ever.

Time at home

Now that parents and children have been sent to ‘work’ from home, what do we do with the time?

My dining table looks like a section of PC World. Littered with laptops, cables and monitors. I am trying to make sure we can all log in and do what we need to do.

Sitting until 1pm, installing windows 10 and making sure laptops are functional.

I realise that we don’t have the big commute. We have the opportunity to stroll on a morning before logging on.

We could go to the park at lunch time.

We could go rowing or lift weights after 5pm.

The world is our oyster. We can spend quality time with our family and friends.

Takeaways

In a crisis, there can also be opportunity.

In this new age, we could work anywhere. Anywhere in the world. What an opportunity.

Now we are isolated, video meetings/conversation will be paramount. We could be more connected than we have ever been.

Now we have a little freedom. We can build our own  lifestyle. We can introduce activities that we have wanted to do but never had the time.

Footnotes

Stay strong. Stay safe. Stay connected.

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