Over the past three months, most of the business world has adjusted to remote working. It’s worked surprisingly well for many companies, MassPrinting included. A lot of companies weren’t built for a dispersed team environment, but we’ve figured out how to make it work for us. Technology has certainly helped. If we weren’t before, we’re now very comfortable using collaboration and communication tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Slack.
I think for many the transition was easier operationally than it was personally. That was certainly the case for us here at MassPrinting. It took a bit of adjusting to not have colleagues around all the time, and I’d still prefer to walk down the hall and have a quick, in the moment discussion with a colleague instead of setting up a video call or sending a note in Slack. It’s easier, at times quicker, and more personal. We’re a relationship-focused business - with clients, partners, and colleagues - and there’s no better way to build relationships than in a face to face setting.
But operationally, the transition was much smoother than I ever imagined. It happened very quickly without any changes that were externally visible to clients or partners. To them, it was business as usual. In fact, many of them actually turned to us for assistance even more during this period than usual.
The ease of the operational transition shouldn’t really surprise me though. We’re a small company that’s shown over the years how quickly we can adapt when needed. And assisting clients with document output, a core operational component of their business, is what we do. We’re an operations-focused business. Pivoting our own internal operations to still serve clients as a dispersed team was a way to show how well we can guide them through the process of transitioning them from on-site document output to off-site, managed by MassPrinting.
That’s not to say there haven’t been downsides to remote working. One of the big ones we’ve witnessed is the cultural and team-building aspect of onboarding new employees. We’ve hired new employees during this remote work period and while onboarding has worked well in an operational sense, online video can’t really replace the feeling of welcoming someone in-person.
With this remote working environment being successful in the short term, many are now wondering if it’s sustainable over a longer period of time. It’s a question I’ve heard many business leaders pondering, especially after seeing decisions from large companies like Facebook, which announced that within 5-10 years, 50% of their employees would be permanently remote. Is this the new normal?
Possibly. But while we’re all caught in the moment, I keep trying to broaden my perspective and see beyond the COVID impact facing us right now.
Camaraderie is such a big part of smaller companies that are quickly scaling. I see it here every day. There’s something different about the collaboration of being in an office with people, and the close knit culture it builds, as opposed to working together over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. It’s hard to develop that culture, especially from the ground up with new employees you haven’t spent much in-person time with. That feeling of belonging, or being a part of something, isn’t quite as strong in a remote setting.
So while operationally we, and many others, have done well working remotely, I’m not sure I see it as something that will last long term. The next year? Maybe two? Possibly. But we’ll come to a point where we miss that atmosphere of being in a physical place with people who are all working hard together to build something; and we’ll want it back. The trendy office perks that became popular over the last few years, like a coffee bar in the kitchen, full meals provided every day, or a slide from the second floor into the lobby, just might be replaced by the simple act of having a physical space.
And if we never return to that? We’ve done pretty well serving client’s needs in a remote fashion. We’ll just continue to do that.