TMB One Year Anniversary of Full Teleworking
A year of maximum telework at TMB has officially passed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 20, 2020, TMB had to formally close the 100 M Street offices to employees to follow Local, State, and Federal Government protocol as an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. To say this past year of telework has been a wild ride would be a huge understatement, as we all have had to learn our new way of life under COVID-19 guidelines while working from home and trying to navigate our way through this new reality. Finding a new work-life balance on top of all the other responsibilities we have in our personal lives has been no easy feat. Maximum telework has transformed the way we work, communicate, and learn. Adjustments to company Telework Policy were made to reflect the new circumstances of our work life because of the pandemic. Logging our daily work activities, participating in daily check-ins, and Microsoft Teams meetings have become the new norm in the past year. Though switching to 100% telework mode has certainly brought its challenges to many TMB employees, there have been many positive outcomes from this new way of work-life. Thankfully, in the year since beginning maximum telework, not a single employee at TMB was furloughed. Working from home has also allowed many of us to spend more time with family, friends, and pets. Most of this has been positive although for employees having to balance work, child care and schoolwork, stress levels have also gone up for many people.
Our clients have been impressed with the efficiency of employees and their work ethic during the last year, leaving a positive impact on our customers about telework. There is no doubt, that the pandemic and the shift to full telework mode will have long-lasting impacts on the way we and our Government customers approach and think about the traditional office work lifestyle. For all of us, it will be critical to our future success that we maintain the best lessons-learned from a completely dispersed workforce but acknowledge that we will move back to some form of office based work. Potentially the cost of office space could be reduced, we could recruit in remote and less costly areas of the country and a flexible work schedule can be a powerful retention tool. In addition, once employees begin returning to the office, the new comfort with virtual meetings is an opportunity to hold large meetings that are no longer constrained by the size of a conference room or office location.
Once back in the office, employees will be able to re-cultivate a sense of belonging and avoid some distractions that teleworking can sometimes bring. While teleworking comes with benefits, the comforts of home also brings some distractions such as noisy neighborhood traffic, the ringing of the doorbell and phone, needy pets, and of course, the ever-present lure of the kitchen snack-closet. Being present in the office also allows employees a chance to create a boundary between work and life. Telecommuting often comes with flexible hours, which seems nice until you find yourself pushing three hours past quitting time and missing dinner. Full time telecommuting also makes it challenging to build company bonds between TMB and employees and to develop larger group collaboration. With more people being vaccinated everyday, the world will continue to open up more. Though the work world as we once knew it may never be the same, a new balance between teleworking and in office support will need to be reached in effort to best support our customers.
~ Katie Flowers
~ Tom Dority
