With video chat I can be in touch with anyone in the company no matter where they are.
I get things done in the same amount of time. In some cases faster. If it's a huge data run I can start it at night and it's ready for me in the morning.
WITO only works if the entire team is in one location.
But then there's the wasted time in commuting.
WFH is the only good thing to come out of the pandemic.
It's been a game changer in the white collar world....almost as big as business casual.
We're not up to 15 states yet but we're getting there. This from a company that had everyone in two states, including contractors and subcontractors, and all were required to commute in prior to COVID-1984.
The contractors and subcontractors are now spread out over five states. Prior to bringing the outlying contracting firms onboard, the company was scrambling to pry talent away from competitors. They had basically given up and resorted to overpaying marginal staff and trying to force their coworkers to make up the difference. Now with the expanded area, we have talent we never would have had before.
Heck, I know everyone doesn’t feel the way I do.
And I understand that. I just feel differently. I think it is okay to disagree on this.
And I do appreciate fully the ability to leverage virtual meetings.
At this point in my career, I do a lot of meetings now. There may be 10-15 people on them, and often, I am the only one actually showing my face on a camera. Everyone else has theirs shut off.
I show my face deliberately for a specific reason-because for me, I always regarded my ability to communicate effectively with people across the board as a personal strength.
I am one of those who believes in a handshake. In looking into someone’s eyes. In listening to their voice. In watching their facial expressions, and in doing that, judging if they understand the issue.
The totality of those things was my own strongest personal asset, not just for how I perceive people, but how they interpret and perceive me in the decision making and planning process.
My face is an open book. I have never been one to hide my feelings, humor, anger, frustration exasperation, all of those. They plainly show, and are evident to those around me to the point is a standing joke. Being a weak person in some areas, I often feel the temptation to be dishonest as much as any person, and I sometimes struggle as I try not to succumb to that temptation. But my face will betray me every time, so...it keeps me more honest.
My boss recently deliberately wanted me to keep my camera on in a sensitive meeting...he was joking, but he meant it.
This personal characteristic has been both a blessing and a curse my whole life, and at some point, I decided to leverage it as much as I can to make it a strength as strongly as I can, and accept the weakness as something to be dealt with.
The point is, this pandemic, this isolation, this working from home, this jumping onto virtual meetings with faceless people who often don’t even have a picture of themselves, they have a dog, or a plane, or...anything, in a fell swoop, took away one of the tools in my arsenal I depended on getting things done, and consigned it to the trash.
It was very difficult for me to overcome this, so I had to work at it. That is why I feel so strongly about it, apart from the simple fact of getting things done.