Post by samiul22522 on Oct 26, 2024 10:09:16 GMT
A few months after the world was completely turned upside down by the Covid-19 pandemic, at Enfusion we decided to cancel the lease on what had been, for many years, our beloved office.
Yes, it was a beloved office, where we were very happy for a long time. There we met a good part of the team that we are today. We shared many very intense moments at work, and also many personal experiences that made us become a family.
The building had a super mobile app development service glamorous entrance decorated with two Greek goddesses leading the way to the imposing marble staircase. Enfusion's office was on the main floor. We were fascinated by its modernist style, especially the ceramic tile floors. We were also fascinated by the characteristic infinitely high ceilings of so many buildings in the centre of Barcelona.
To give it a bit of life and to reflect our corporate identity, we had painted the lobby in Pantone green #476 and, in the meeting room, we had hung a painting by Nico. In case any of you don't know, he studied Fine Arts in Munich, so we didn't just do it because the boss had painted it. It just looked great.
We now meet via Zoom , both internally and with clients, which saves us travel time and waiting time. We have also intensified the use of Slack and Asana for task organization, which allows us to immediately update all processes. That is why, for more than a year and a half, we have been asking ourselves the following question: is remote work really better than face-to-face work? Well, let's look at it from a more general point of view to the real experience of Enfusion in these times of change.
What do we mean by teleworking?
It may seem obvious to try to answer this question today. Especially since most of us know not only the theory, but also the practice.
Ok, by now we all know that teleworking means working remotely , outside the office of the company where we are employed.
This formula allows us to work and participate in meetings from anywhere else. Contact with colleagues is done digitally , via email or online applications that allow us to share processes or make video calls , for example.
But there is one consideration that we must take into account, which goes far beyond all this and which perhaps not everyone is so clear about. And that is that teleworking involves two fundamental concepts: flexibility and freedom .
It is especially the new generations Y and Z who demand these new ways of working. Surfing the Internet 24 hours a day and networking in social communities characterise the employees of the future . It is therefore not surprising that teleworking is becoming increasingly popular.
But the Covid-19 crisis seems to be accelerating the trend even further and involving workers of all generations in a transversal way.
Do you want to know how we work and how we can help you?
CONTACT US!
home-office-agncia-digital-marketing-barcelona
Does work make people happier?
If the recent Covid-19 crisis has made anything clear, it is that the office has been used as a safe haven to perpetuate certain ways of working: fixed schedules, decisions made around a boardroom table, and the development of corporate culture within the physical environment of the company. The disruption caused by the first lockdown immediately put this organisation to the test. And what has been shown is that many companies can function perfectly well without the infrastructure of a physical office.
This experience has been an opportunity to rethink the company culture, to update obsolete labor regulations, and to learn about and implement digital tools that allow teams to unleash their potential in a highly optimized way.
On the other hand, it seems that teleworking has not only proven to be an efficient system for companies, but has also been a very positive experience for a large part of workers.
Advantages and disadvantages of teleworking
The remote work system that we have experienced more intensely than ever in the last two years has offered us the following advantages:
high productivity
reducing stress levels
better balance between professional and personal life. In other words, a more real conciliation.
fewer or shorter business trips
flexibility for people to organize their time
Cost savings for companies, by eliminating physical spaces and travel expenses
Greater environmental protection by reducing travel
However, working from home also has its drawbacks:
Greater loneliness of people due to lack of personal contact
greater chances of distraction from tasks
technical difficulties such as network connections
difficulty separating professional life from personal life
But, although the list of advantages versus disadvantages of teleworking is longer and will surely be expanded as we optimize our way of working under this remote system, it is obviously not a feasible system for all sectors. In many of them, the physical presence of workers is still essential. At least, until the Metaverse has been developed a little more.
Every crisis is an opportunity
Despite the harsh consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, this period has served as a learning experience in many aspects of our lives. In the professional field, it has given companies the opportunity to break free from the constraints of the physical office to create a new digital work environment .
The last two years have challenged old patterns and allowed us to build teams that are much more representative of the society we live in today, in the 21st century. This is an opportunity to build new strengths by connecting people through talent regardless of their physical location.
We are increasingly seeing more digital nomads , people who no longer work from home, but rather from a different place every day. They use coworking spaces, go to a coffee shop or connect from any airport.
How do we do it at Enfusion?
As was the case in all companies that did not provide essential strategic services, the entire Enfusion team stayed at home from March 14, 2020. Two months later, companies were able to open their doors to their workers again, although many of them did not want to return.
In the case of Enfusion , that combination of Covid-19 and teleworking required immediate reflection before taking the next steps in our work strategy. Finally, a decision was made in a consensual, democratic manner and by an absolute and overwhelming majority. One hundred percent of the team wanted to continue working remotely , so the office rental was cancelled.
This change has not been so new in our case, however. Since they founded Enfusion, sixteen years ago, both Henrique and Nico had to deal with the issue of work-life balance very early on, since their eldest children were born almost at the same time as the company. Alternatives soon had to be found to be able to balance work and family life, with the added difficulty that there were no grandparents living nearby.
The biggest difficulty back then was that there were hardly any tools to facilitate teleworking . Telephones were already mobile, but they did not have the connectivity we have today (no, in 2006, the iPhone did not exist). There were laptops, but moving them around was like carrying a desk around, and sending heavy files could only be done before lunchtime so as not to crash the system.
Yes, it was a beloved office, where we were very happy for a long time. There we met a good part of the team that we are today. We shared many very intense moments at work, and also many personal experiences that made us become a family.
The building had a super mobile app development service glamorous entrance decorated with two Greek goddesses leading the way to the imposing marble staircase. Enfusion's office was on the main floor. We were fascinated by its modernist style, especially the ceramic tile floors. We were also fascinated by the characteristic infinitely high ceilings of so many buildings in the centre of Barcelona.
To give it a bit of life and to reflect our corporate identity, we had painted the lobby in Pantone green #476 and, in the meeting room, we had hung a painting by Nico. In case any of you don't know, he studied Fine Arts in Munich, so we didn't just do it because the boss had painted it. It just looked great.
We now meet via Zoom , both internally and with clients, which saves us travel time and waiting time. We have also intensified the use of Slack and Asana for task organization, which allows us to immediately update all processes. That is why, for more than a year and a half, we have been asking ourselves the following question: is remote work really better than face-to-face work? Well, let's look at it from a more general point of view to the real experience of Enfusion in these times of change.
What do we mean by teleworking?
It may seem obvious to try to answer this question today. Especially since most of us know not only the theory, but also the practice.
Ok, by now we all know that teleworking means working remotely , outside the office of the company where we are employed.
This formula allows us to work and participate in meetings from anywhere else. Contact with colleagues is done digitally , via email or online applications that allow us to share processes or make video calls , for example.
But there is one consideration that we must take into account, which goes far beyond all this and which perhaps not everyone is so clear about. And that is that teleworking involves two fundamental concepts: flexibility and freedom .
It is especially the new generations Y and Z who demand these new ways of working. Surfing the Internet 24 hours a day and networking in social communities characterise the employees of the future . It is therefore not surprising that teleworking is becoming increasingly popular.
But the Covid-19 crisis seems to be accelerating the trend even further and involving workers of all generations in a transversal way.
Do you want to know how we work and how we can help you?
CONTACT US!
home-office-agncia-digital-marketing-barcelona
Does work make people happier?
If the recent Covid-19 crisis has made anything clear, it is that the office has been used as a safe haven to perpetuate certain ways of working: fixed schedules, decisions made around a boardroom table, and the development of corporate culture within the physical environment of the company. The disruption caused by the first lockdown immediately put this organisation to the test. And what has been shown is that many companies can function perfectly well without the infrastructure of a physical office.
This experience has been an opportunity to rethink the company culture, to update obsolete labor regulations, and to learn about and implement digital tools that allow teams to unleash their potential in a highly optimized way.
On the other hand, it seems that teleworking has not only proven to be an efficient system for companies, but has also been a very positive experience for a large part of workers.
Advantages and disadvantages of teleworking
The remote work system that we have experienced more intensely than ever in the last two years has offered us the following advantages:
high productivity
reducing stress levels
better balance between professional and personal life. In other words, a more real conciliation.
fewer or shorter business trips
flexibility for people to organize their time
Cost savings for companies, by eliminating physical spaces and travel expenses
Greater environmental protection by reducing travel
However, working from home also has its drawbacks:
Greater loneliness of people due to lack of personal contact
greater chances of distraction from tasks
technical difficulties such as network connections
difficulty separating professional life from personal life
But, although the list of advantages versus disadvantages of teleworking is longer and will surely be expanded as we optimize our way of working under this remote system, it is obviously not a feasible system for all sectors. In many of them, the physical presence of workers is still essential. At least, until the Metaverse has been developed a little more.
Every crisis is an opportunity
Despite the harsh consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, this period has served as a learning experience in many aspects of our lives. In the professional field, it has given companies the opportunity to break free from the constraints of the physical office to create a new digital work environment .
The last two years have challenged old patterns and allowed us to build teams that are much more representative of the society we live in today, in the 21st century. This is an opportunity to build new strengths by connecting people through talent regardless of their physical location.
We are increasingly seeing more digital nomads , people who no longer work from home, but rather from a different place every day. They use coworking spaces, go to a coffee shop or connect from any airport.
How do we do it at Enfusion?
As was the case in all companies that did not provide essential strategic services, the entire Enfusion team stayed at home from March 14, 2020. Two months later, companies were able to open their doors to their workers again, although many of them did not want to return.
In the case of Enfusion , that combination of Covid-19 and teleworking required immediate reflection before taking the next steps in our work strategy. Finally, a decision was made in a consensual, democratic manner and by an absolute and overwhelming majority. One hundred percent of the team wanted to continue working remotely , so the office rental was cancelled.
This change has not been so new in our case, however. Since they founded Enfusion, sixteen years ago, both Henrique and Nico had to deal with the issue of work-life balance very early on, since their eldest children were born almost at the same time as the company. Alternatives soon had to be found to be able to balance work and family life, with the added difficulty that there were no grandparents living nearby.
The biggest difficulty back then was that there were hardly any tools to facilitate teleworking . Telephones were already mobile, but they did not have the connectivity we have today (no, in 2006, the iPhone did not exist). There were laptops, but moving them around was like carrying a desk around, and sending heavy files could only be done before lunchtime so as not to crash the system.