Before Covid hit I commuted to Carnival House five days a week from Bournemouth. With the best intentions and encouragement, opportunities to work from home were far and few between due to meeting culture and technology restrictions at the time.
The switch to remote working
When we first started to work remotely we had to switch from catching up weekly as a team to daily to manage the sheer volume of reactive internal communications going out to the business. As a team our hours were all over the place while we aligned to Government announcements and reacted to the ever-changing Covid-19 landscape. We were almost immediately forced into a more agile way of working.
Throughout 2020, the chaos of covid meant almost solely reactive communications became the new normal for us – as a team we made a conscious decision to continue to meet daily. We’d cover the priorities and updates for the week but we also try to keep office conversation alive by using the time to catch up on what we’ve all been up to. This regular time gave us all the opportunity to stay connected, bond as a team and as a manager, allowed me to keep a finger on the pulse of how everyone is doing from a wellbeing and workload perspective.
Following the consultation period, the team merged and we’ve since had a new addition, so it was important to maintain that connection and have those regular informal check ins. Even now we meet every Monday-Thursday at 10:00 for at least 30 minutes. This meant when we did all finally come back together face-to-face to help get the office ready for everyone else’s return it felt like we’d never really been apart.
On a personal level I very much enjoyed being home, seeing more of my three-year-old, Finn, and more recently 10-month-old, Araelia. Just being able to step away and play, have lunch, take over at bath and bed every night was a real benefit.
I guess the other side of that, which I’m sure everyone has felt to varying degrees is the blurring of work and home-life.
Settling into Hybrid working
In a professional capacity, having the opportunity to re-start the things that make Carnival UK such a great place to work was exciting as it opened opportunities for more engaging ways of communicating again. But on personally level, I’d become very comfortable working from home, no longer paying to commute, no more ironing shirts, no more wearing anything but shorts on the bottom half. Plus everyone was available at the click of a mouse via Zoom and the team continued to function very well, so what was the point in going back?
It was only when I did return that I realised what I really missed about working from the office. Firstly the opportunity to mix up my days really does help divide a busy work and home life – creating a better work/life balance for me. But the biggest realisation was just how valuable, and how much I’d missed a proper chat with colleagues. As much as we can have impromptu catch ups on Zoom or talk socially in team meetings, the ability to just talk – not only with my team but with people across the business – was one of the most enjoyable and productive parts of being back.
Since those early days it’s been great to see the office getting busier again – it’s started to feel like Carnival UK again. The technology is becoming more seamless as we adjust to a hybrid way of working, and the facilities teams have considered every detail along the way to ensure we all feel safe and comfortable being back in the office – plus the coffee is pretty good too!
Where we are today
As a team, as well as meeting daily on zoom, we have days where we cross over in the office and once a month we all come in together as an Internal Comms team. Then again as a wider Culture and Learning team too so allow lots of opportunity to check in with each other.
We have the freedom flex our time in the office as well as the hours we’re ‘online’ to best support the business need and working when we’re at our most productive. We’ll often pop in for a morning or afternoon to best suit what’s needed to get the job done while supporting a positive work/life balance.
When I first returned to the office I very much thought I’d be sticking to one day a week, maybe two at a push, but just seeing people again, talking face-to-face, rather than zooming, has made me appreciate the benefits of using Carnival House in a balanced way.
While I’m reliably informed hugs are still frowned upon as we stick to social distancing, when in, you’ll often find me pitched up in the Atrium. When I’m not battling Rob Scott for the best standing spot (my spot!) near the plug socket, I’m using the time to connect, say hi and have quick catch ups with people on their way through – the ability to just get stuff done through that passing conversation has been invaluable.
All our experiences of hybrid working are unique, and we can all learn from one another. Got a hybrid working story to share? We want to hear from you. Get in touch at Internal.Comms@carnivalukgroup.com