Maintaining Culture Whilst Working Remotely

Looking back on mid-March, when we had just been told it was no longer deemed safe for us to travel into our office, the idea of packing up our whole company and turning it virtual seemed unimaginable. How would it even work? Unknowingly, we all packed up our desks with a genuine belief that we would be back in two to three weeks at the very most. Fast forward 20 weeks later, and it is now the return to an office that seems harder to fathom.

What an experience it has been.

Individually and collectively, we’ve all worked hard to try and establish the perfect balance of ‘working from home’ rather than ‘living at work’ and it has definitely had its challenges; challenges that were made immensely easier thanks to the unbelievably hilarious moments we’ve experienced together over the last few months.

Some of these moments required some immense creativity, such as turning our annual Sports Day into Sports Week and making it all happen through our laptops. The levels of competitiveness definitely did not take a hit.

We’ve tested our knowledge of each other with some highly entertaining throwback quizzes filled with all the old Facebook pictures that we hoped the team would never see.

Then there was the unforgettable period of time known as ‘Top of the Bops’. If you can’t guess which playlist belongs to which of your colleagues, do you really know them at all?!

Other memories came much more naturally, such as unplanned interruptions, unfavourable technical difficulties and hilarious anecdotes on the bi-weekly team debriefs. We’ve met family members, dogs, cats and even postmen. We know who to go to for the best wifi provider and who’s really working those camera angles. We’ve had many a house tour with some rather strange household items being spotted in the background, for us to then hear a great story about. And of course, weeks and weeks of… YOU’RE ON MUTE!

So, why not put a positive spin on these strange and trying times and try to find a way to commemorate them instead? As a team, we wanted to take a step back and realise that some of these priceless moments wouldn’t have happened in our everyday work environment.

The ‘Work From Home Awards’ was the perfect way to do this. The biggest event of lockdown; it wasn’t to be missed!

Who would earn the title of ‘Best Lockdown Wardrobe’? Who would take home the trophy of ‘Biggest Lockdown Revelation’? Not to mention the challenge of trying to vote for the funniest moment of lockdown with so many contenders in the running. Reminiscing and laughing about these moments all over again really allowed us to gain an appreciation for an otherwise difficult time for all.

Once we’re back in our office and working from home becomes a distant memory, we’ll be able to look back fondly and reminisce about those hilarious times together in person (even if some of our team wish we would forget some…).

Truthfully, working from home is a skill we are still trying to master in our own ways, but the silver lining is that in trying to do so, we’ve all learnt more about one another and become closer than ever as a team.

Sabrine Murabet – Production Assistant