Sol Harris Day Architecture

Lessons from Covid-19

Saturday, March 28, 2020
By Matt Sutter, Chief Executive Officer
In Community

Lessons from Covid-19

Is there any good that can come from the COVID 19 pandemic? If you tune in to traditional media and social media, it is for the most part, a story of fear. Bad news seems to attract people and can become all-consuming and can create a very, very negative mindset. It is not easy being told that we can not go out and live our lives as we usually do, but is there any good to be found in this current state of affairs? I thought that I would share some work at home insights from different people at SōL Harris/Day.

Everyone at SōL Harris/Day has been working at home for two weeks, which was the time when the State of Ohio shut down the schools. Eleven of our twenty-seven people are part of two income households with school age children. This created an instant problem as, these employees would be forced to choose between work and children. That was not acceptable, so we elected to install software on everyone’s computer to allow everyone to work from home. This turned out to be a well timed decision, as the following week, the Governor of Ohio issued a stay at home order for the entire state.

Over the two weeks of working from home we have learned a great deal about how people are dealing with this and what needs to be done to make this a successful situation.

Top 10 observations and tips from different people at SoL Harris/Day:

  • The Extroverts are having the most difficulty with the lack of camaraderie that is generally found in our office. One week into working from home, one person stated that it was driving her crazy to be so isolated. We have instituted purposeful “check in” calls from the partners to reach each person at SoL Harris/Day to see if they need anything, to update people on the current situation and to stay connected.
  • Collaboration is more difficult and must be very intentional. More phone calls or video chats to communicate daily or multiple times a day are essential. We have encouraged phone calls and video calls in lieu of texting to encourage better communication. The partners are meeting via Skype twice each week and entire office of 27 people are meeting via Skype once a week. Kids sometimes become a part of the video calls, which is great.
  • Interactions with children are now a way of life while working from home, especially if both parents work. People are taking turns working and caring for the kids. One couple has an arrangement where one takes the children while the other makes dinner that day.
  • Several people have discussed how nice it is to be around family more. Taking the kids outside for recess at lunch, college students studying from home have given people added time with their loved ones.
  • With the absence of a familiar routine, keeping track of time has become difficult. Working in jammies has become commonplace, blurring the lines between home life and work.
  • Focus has become difficult at times. There are many distractions at home. Children and spouses are doing different things, not related to business
  • There are many home projects that are now sitting there, waiting to be completed, literally staring people in the face.
  • Overall it has been difficult for most people to dedicated 8 hours during the day to work. Many are working a few hours in the evening after the children have gone to bed.
  • Commuting time has been reduced to about 30 seconds, which is a bonus.
  • Meetings have become more concise. This is good for productivity, but bad for personal relationships, as people tend to share less about what is going on in their lives.

Yvette Zingery, one of our partners, had the most profound comment to date. She said that life used to be “rush to get things done, rush to get to the next thing both at work and in life” This virus outbreak has mandated a slower pace to life. Perhaps we can all use this as a gift of extra time that we may not have otherwise had.

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