This year started off really great for us. A previous established partnership that starts to pay off, new challenging assignments, first talks with experienced Project Managers that want to join us, an update of our website underway. We are building our company and brand, brick by brick, layer by layer, project by project.

In this blog, I would like to share my insights of mainly working from home and the impact that has on our work as Project Managers. Did the travel restrictions impact our work in any way, what have we learned from the last 2 years, what could we have done better, what (unexpected) positive side effects were gained?

It takes about 100-days for a new behaviour to settle in, to become natural to you. The pandemic started almost 2 years ago, and the required and much needed change in behaviour is adopted. Working from home, using Zoom/ Teams to meet, virtual Friday afternoon drinks…we all adjusted because we had not choice. This new of working has some positive side effects as well as negative.

Positive was the increased productivity. Instead of travelling back and forth to the office, this travel time could now be used for extra working hours. Furthermore, the flexibility to mix private matters with work became much easier. A dental appointment during the day? No problem, that one hour absence could easily be made up with an additional hour somewhere during the week.

Negative effects were there as well, for example, the Zoom-fatigue. Many online meetings a week is tiring, it drains energy. Moreover, the loss of face-to-face interactions with colleagues, customers, business partners did not help in mutual understanding. But we have passed the 100-days marker many months ago, so the new behaviour is ingrained in our habitual system. Going back to the office five days a week? Wasting time in traffic jams several mornings or afternoons? I don’t think so, the new hybrid way of working is here to stay. Going to the office 2 to 3 days a week max will be the new norm.

How did the last two years impact us as Project Managers? Knowing that travel to other countries is restricted (or even forbidden as a company policy), meeting new prospects and customers happened mainly online. Looking back, I believe that the impact for us as Project Managers was limited. Of course, face to face always works better, but did business come to a stand still? Were new projects postponed due to the new reality? Did the hiring of external Project Managers come to a complete stop? No, not all. In contrary, the number of projects kicked off by the business increased. The new reality made companies realise something had to change. The request for experienced Project Managers increased the last 24 months.

Working from home (typically) did not impact our existing or new business. This new reality is adopted across the world, people work from home (for the functions where this is applicable), becoming the new standard. Now the restrictions slowly will be lifted and companies are allowed to invite their employees back to the office, the overall consensus is to limit the number of days at the office. Many companies adopt this hybrid approach. Of course, there are companies that got rid of their offices all together, where completely working from home is the new adagium. And there will be companies that demand their employees to return to the office fulltime…but will employees accept that?

Looking back, the new way of working did not impact our work or the quality of the work delivered, in my opinion. Could we have done things differently, better? Sure, the new way of working does bring some challenges, like the loss of face-to-face interactions. With Zoom/ Teams-meetings, it becomes more difficult to see and react to bodily expressions. A lot of communication is lost by just looking at (small) faces in a crowded Zoom-meeting. Cultural differences got unnoticed, but we learned to adapt quickly.

Did the pandemic change our lives for the good or for the bad? Yes, we have lost ways of working we were used to, we had to adapt. But is that a bad thing? Or do we see the positive (side) effects and embrace these as the new reality? I tend to go for the latter. I do not miss the 10 hours of travel a week at all, not even mentioning the extra hours caused by traffic jams. Furthermore, I like the flexibility of working from home and working at the location of the customer. I love the option to go on a holiday for a week, work in the morning and enjoy the free afternoons in a new surrounding. This ‘work anywhere’ concept really fits nicely with my type of work and my personality. That feeling of freedom is priceless!

Concluding, I can say that the pandemic had a global impact. But the world adjusted quickly to the new norms. For us, as Project Managers, we had to adjust as well, but the positive effects outweigh by far the negative ones. Yes, we are limited in travel, face-to-face meetings. But we gained extra time, flexibility…and business did not decline. The demand for experienced Project Managers increased because businesses feel the urge to change.

What is your opinion: is your work negative or positive impacted the last two years? Can you relate to the story above, or do you not recognise it at all? Let me know your thoughts.

Greetings

Jan