Pivotus celebrated its “Remote Working” model at our June social events get together. The theme was “Work from Home: Expectations versus Reality.” The event’s goal was to share stories and engage in conversation around the team’s experiences, realisations, and expressions of gratitude related to their setup—remote working. Although it could have been a very ‘meme worthy’ topic along the lines of “Expectations vs Reality”, it ended up more so being filled with shared D&M’s.
The “bring me” game, which required staff to find an object from their workstations (or other locations around the house), served as the program’s opening activity. Some of the things that were requested were easy and some much harder and niche: writing pad, ID card, hairbrush, hand sanitiser, medicine, spoon, newspaper, plant, batteries and mug. Fascinatingly, when asked to show their favourite workspace item, staff showed a tablet, mobile phone, keyboard, vitamins, tea cup, mirror, tumbler and a precious “secretary” dog. This game indirectly has explored what each staff’s workstation looks like.
The “coffee table talk” was the main part of the program, when staff were encouraged to discuss their expectations versus reality regarding the work-from-home set-up. Here are a few of the ideas that were shared:
- It came out that each staff has a distinct preferred work environment. Some prefer to work in a quiet, enclosed space, while others can work at the kitchen table. Some can work with other people around, and some prefer to work in coffee shops every once in a while. The size and setup of the home obviously makes a big impact on where people work from
- Staff have a meal plan throughout the week. Some of them prepare their meals in large quantities on the weekend. Some staff have lunchtime deliveries, while others manage to prepare meals for themselves and their families every day.
- While working, the majority of the staff are wearing Pivotus Shirts or Hoodies. Let’s just say that the “bottom half” of the work attire was a little less professional in more than a few instances….
- The majority of our female staff prefer not to wear makeup during the day, while some conduct their daily skincare routine in the morning and wear minimal makeup while they work. We forgot to ask the guys about their routines.
Discussions have led to the realisation that expectations are far different from the reality. It came out that staff preferred working from home over going to other locations, such as coffee shops, beaches and bars. Working at their desks at home makes them more efficient and at ease. The majority of Pivotus staff have children and enjoy being able to take care of family emergencies and fixed appointments, while working remotely. This ease of juggling leans into our belief that there is no such thing as ‘Work Life Balance’ and that the goal should be ‘Work Life Harmony’.
After looking into all of these realisations, we learned that our team’s definition of their expectations versus reality is influenced by their spousal, dependent, cultural and financial differences. We would do well to remember that the most important lesson from this experience was to appreciate and respect one another’s diversity.
