Navigating the New “Temporary Normal”

Mar 20, 2020 |
mins Read

Whether you’ve been working from home forever or a few days, this new “temporary normal” feels unsettling and uncertain.

Hello Fellow Humans!

As we navigate this new temporary normal, I hope that we are able to put things in perspective and prioritize health and safety above all else. Hearing the words “shelter in place” brought a new level of reality to many of us yesterday while many others have been operating in this environment for some time. As we grapple with the immediate blending of work and family, let’s commit to staying connected and to giving each other grace given our new surroundings…then with a growth mindset, let’s embrace it!

Here are a few things I’ve learned since working from home more in the last week or so:

Turn the Camera On: We are on conference calls and use text and email frequently, but for me that was because I took face-to-face interaction for granted. Now that face-to-face is on pause, v-chats and v-cons are an awesome alternative. Today, I crashed the Tuesday video huddles of NorCal and LA because I missed the interaction so much. Look, I had my #OKXer moments while adjusting to the technology but it’s really intuitive.

Because the Camera’s On: Preview your camera angle to make sure you get everything you want in the shot…and omit everything you don’t. Note that Microsoft Teams has the ability to let you blur your background.

Expansion Team: A blended work and family environment coupled with increased use of video means our RGP family has expanded by default. Do not stress over having a perfect environment for a call or v-chat. Many of you have seen this Work from Home video—and this may well happen to any of us. It’s okay, there’s no need to usher your children or pets out of your video conference and also no need to wear a tie. Your colleagues, your clients and your consultants understand the sounds and visuals that come with work from home. Today at 6AM, I exchanged waves with the daughter of one of our Revenue leaders and I am better for it! My extended RGP team (pictured in my home office) includes Corinne “Coco,” who turns 8 today, my son, Ben, who is almost 10 and an enormous cat named Cosmo Cloud. If we talk over the next few weeks, likely one of them will be in frame!

Calendar, calendar, calendar: This blend will require you to really use your calendar more to help the juxtaposition of work and family obligations. Block your calendar for both. We trust you to be productive. If you look on my calendar and it’s blocked for MFLCD–that’s shorthand for multiplying fractions, least common denominator! Pro Tip: Do not ask your spouse the following question: “How did home school go today?”

Embrace Subtitles: With no live sports, I’ve been watching the Danish political drama Borgen on YouTube–excellent even with subtitles. It’s House of Cards without all the weird stuff.

Virtual Pub: I stole this from our EU business head! He and his team plan to get together at the end of the day to have a virtual Happy Hour on v-chat. I love that idea and hope that we all do that from time to time to commune as teams. In fact, I have a group v-pubbing at 5 PT, family and pets welcome.

Thank you for all you do, stay positive, stay connected and reach out when you need us! Be agile and be safe.

Virtually yours!
Tim Brackney
President & COO

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