Home Office like a Pro

Uli: I don't perceive any change. I really appreciate the opportunity to work from home at Namics and I think it can be really well implemented within the teams. I can well imagine that the possibility of working from home could become even more common in the future.

Patrick: In our department, sales and restructuring have not affected remote working.

Uli: As often as possible, remote exchange with colleagues via video chat instead of text communication. And spend your free time with your family. The best place to do so is on fresh air, on a walk or while practising your favourite hobby.

Patrick: Since there is no need to go to the coffee machine and therefore no social interaction, I often try to get in touch with colleagues via video chat, even with relatively trivial problems. This helps to create a visual effect, which is often underestimated in text-only communication. Also the chatting at the end is a little more detailed than in pragmatic text chat. Meetings should also, if possible, always be held with video chat in order to maintain this presence permanently.

Uli: I regularly inform my colleagues about changes in the project and we play them through remotely. Regular meetings to exchange ideas and to see the colleagues again are very important to me.

Patrick: The topic of collaboration is very important in our team, as it is elsewhere. We often need to know who has done what and where. Documentation is very important in this area - especially to see when something has been done. Besides the normal tickets in Jira, I keep a Git workbook, which I make available after every working day. This way my colleagues can see what I've done - can search the system for keywords/server/etc. and are aware of what's going on. In this area communication is essential - everything should be mentioned/announced, ideas should be thrown into a chat.

Uli: The office door remains closed. Workplace is workplace no matter whether in the office or home office. Always keep a stoic approach to the project. I try to separate work and private life as much as possible to avoid stress. I also think carefully about the place where I work and the space for non-work.

Patrick: Here the clear regulation that the working area also remains a working area helps. Although it is possible, especially now in the current COVID-19 situation, to get in contact with the children more quickly, it should remain the exception.

Uli: For me, the biggest advantage is that I can work on the project undisturbed and concentrated - if I have the feeling that my head is about to burst, I ask my colleague to look out for a mailbox and get some fresh air. A further advantage is being able to react ad hoc outside working hours in exceptional cases when there is a fire. This is highly appreciated by the customer.

But sometimes I miss the live coffees with colleagues face-to-face. That is something different than a hangout. If there is less to do, the temptation is to look out the window or do something else. The only thing that helps is to stay hard and look at tasks that don't have a priority to get back into flow. If there is really nothing to do, I ask if it is ok to take off ÜS or to take a half day off.

Patrick: A big advantage of working from home is that if the battery is empty prematurely, you can simply get up and enjoy the fresh air for 5-10 minutes. One should use this also well and gladly, because afterwards it works substantially more relaxed. Here too, communication is extremely important so that colleagues know what's going on and don't have to wait for answers.

When there is less to do, the temptation to do housework etc. is much greater - here you have to train yourself to be disciplined in this area.

Uli: I have my own room for my home office which I don't use privately, which helps me enormously. And apart from that it's the rituals of dressing "neatly", sitting at the PC at point 8, etc. In exceptional cases I get calls from customers outside working hours, which I then accept - that's when I know that there really is a problem, that's actually the only point where I don't succeed.

Patrick: To one of the separate work areas, then really note in the appointment calendar when it is closing time. Also the taking off of the working clothes mentioned at the beginning has an enormous symbolic character. In my case it also helps, because normally the kindergarten is over by then, to pick up the children and concentrate completely on their private life. Also important - switch off your business mobile phone!