Salesforce recently released an article discussing work and life post pandemic, specifically, how remote work has killed the typical 9-5 routine we are all so familiar with. That got us thinking; thinking about what we’ve learned over the past year and how we see Red Argyle functioning in a post-COVID world.
Since Red Argyle went remote back in March, we along with many, were adjusting to the new normal. We made it a priority to tailor our work experience for our employees to do great work as well as provide our clients with the same level of attentiveness and detail. Even coming up with some tips and tricks for ourselves along the way on how to best tackle full-time remote work for everyone.
The title of this blog was slung into one of our Slack channels as a satirical title. But the more we thought about it, we realized just how true it was. At one point or another, someone at Red Argyle has literally worked out of a bus, out of an RV, out of warehouses and even out of a treehouse.
We love the idea of being able to utilize both remote and office work. Of course, in the current state of the world, we understand that being in the office right now is not an option. But as vaccines make their way across the country, it brings us hope for a COVID-safe future. As we plan for work life after COVID, we are taking into consideration what environment our employees feel they function best in, in order to continue the great work they do.
Tom Patros, Red Argyle’s founder and CTO, was featured in an article recently that was focused on how companies are approaching reopening office spaces.
What it comes down to is simple — Options.
Our CEO Garry Polmateer puts it simply by saying:
“We’ve always embraced flexibility and Remote Work at Red Argyle since the beginning, even at the partnership level where Tom (CTO & Founder) and I live in different cities. Being geographically separated has never been a hindrance to doing great work, instead we developed a discipline of effective communications and habits of how to work remotely”
Red Argyle puts Argylers first. Which means we know that people work differently. We conducted a survey to gage how our employees are feeling about the type of environment they want to work in post-pandemic. We know we have traveling and remote employees, employees who enjoy the office environment, and employees who enjoy both. Our goal is to make sure every Argyler feels empowered to do their best work, their best way. Which is why we’re planning our post-COVID environment to benefit all, continuing to do great work all the while.
Remote Work
Many employees before COVID were fully remote, scattered across the United States. This won’t change – in fact, since March we’ve hired 19 employees, with 8 of them being fully remote. We love the fact that we can work thousands of miles apart, yet still have seamless communication and teamwork.
Eliza Gage, a Senior Consultant, has been working remote at Red Argyle for 6 months and fully remote for almost 5 years now:
“One benefit of everyone being remote is that all conversation and communication is happening online,” she says “this makes it easier for permanent remote people to be more deeply connected to our teams.”
We also support employees looking to travel. This is where the busses and RV section of the title come into play.
One of our employees, Elizabeth Renshaw, was in dire need to take advantage of work flexibility when she found herself stuck in Iowa after purchasing a bus just days before:
“I am lucky enough to work with a flexible, remote schedule that allowed me to take apart the engine of my bus from a high school football field in rural Iowa while still engaging in my work, making my meetings, and not unexpectedly dropping my work load on the shoulders of my team.”
Office Work
While COVID has changed our world to be mostly digital, we never wanted to eliminate the opportunity to provide our employees with a safe and healthy office to do their work. We love being around fellow Argylers, and when it is safe to do so, we will be right back in an office for those who want to be.
One of our developers, Adam Schwarzweller says:
“Having an office to go to can be extremely helpful when problem solving and working as a team. Being face to face allows for undivided attention as well as productive side conversations that you don’t get when on video conference meetings. I find that in an office setting, I can be more productive and will often be more focused on work tasks, but when I leave, I don’t think about work as much.”
A Hybrid – Office and Remote
We also understand that we have many employees who don’t fall completely under either of those two categories. In creating flexible options for our employees, we intend to take some stress off of their day-to-day activities. Our intention is to find a groove that works best for each Argyler.
Looking ahead to a post COVID world, like Salesforce says, the 9-5 very well may be dead. Forward-thinking, Red Argyle offices will be open with groups of Argylers congregating when it makes sense. But Argylers will also be in their kids dance recital at 3pm, or their home office when that makes sense for them. And when it comes time, Argylers will have free range to choose. We fully expect, and welcome people into whatever new work environment makes the most sense for them and we’re glad the world seems to be doing the same outside of Red Argyle walls.
