Working from home inspires a new perspective on work-life balance

Reusser Design's team meets virtually on Zoom calls to stay in touch during COVID-19.

In operating a small, tight-knit team of developers, designers, and strategists who rely heavily on collaboration and group ideation, I knew there could be risks entering into a time of remote work during COVID-19. Though we’ve operated remotely before at Reusser Design, the “unknown” element of a global pandemic left us a bit unsettled, as I’m sure it did many business owners.

The first few weeks, several thoughts ran through my mind.

Will the team be able to keep up the momentum we had in the office?

How can we maintain a sense of friendship and comradery?

What potential conflicts will arise?

These questions and more came to mind, but quickly faded as I watched our team settle into life at home.

Nate Reusser of Reusser Design.

Our Monday morning stand-up meetings (now more like “sit-down” meetings) showcased the team in their true element—kids in the background, dogs barking, spotty internet connections and all. I hoped this could be a time for us, as Team Reusser, to grow closer, rather than embrace the distance.

Sharing daily life together through technology

One of our team’s main communication tools is Slack. We use this to collaborate on projects, share lunch orders, and direct message one another throughout the day. When we’re in the office, it even notifies us when a guest is at the front door.

As soon as the decision was made to have the team work from home, we spun up a new Slack channel as a way to share projects, stories, and fun memories while working at home. The response has been great, and it has been a really fun way to keep the team “together” during this time.

Reusser Design uses slack to share life updates outside of work.

What’s been amazing to see is how the team has not only embraced this time apart, but also grown much closer than I could have imagined. When it could have been easy to choose complacency in maintaining friendships, the team has really leaned in to build a stronger sense of community.

This increased communication has promoted a sense of freedom to share parts of our lives that may have felt too “separate” from work before now. With the lines blurred between work and home, blending the two has helped us cheer one another on as parents, friends, gardeners, homeschool teachers, chefs, dog dads, plant moms, and more.

Building trust without micromanaging

Working outside the office requires a certain new level of trust from all parties.

Micromanaging has never been my style. Our team is highly trustworthy and capable of accomplishing excellent work under pressure. The added layer of working from home builds in a sense of leisure that doesn’t usually accompany the normal day-to-day in our fast-paced work environment.

This has been an opportunity for me to trust the team and allow certain freedoms such as taking mid-day family walks, getting in an afternoon workout, or taking some time off when overwhelmed to make up hours over the weekend.

We’ve always promoted a flexible work schedule, but this has provided a more tangible opportunity to care for the mental health and family well-being of our team members, all while seeing them execute great work.

Taking a walk in Roanoke Park is one way team members are staying healthy during quarantine.

Tools that help us stay in the loop

We’ve implemented a few new tools and features to help stay connected, as well.

Using the status feature on Slack has been a helpful way to communicate what we’re up to during the day. It easily lets coworkers know we’re at lunch, on a bike ride, or in a meeting and helps us keep in touch while respecting each other’s time.

Along with that, we’re using the EntreLeadership Weekly Report tool from the Ramsey Institute to check in on our stress levels, workload, and weekly highs and lows. This has been a great space for the team to open up and share with leadership.

An example of an Entreleadership weekly report.

Another exciting new feature we rolled out is an internal Wiki. This has been a helpful source of truth for the team to find answers to a multitude of questions along with helpful resources.

The Reusser Design internal Wiki page.

Maintaining a culture of connectedness

As we continue working from home for the foreseeable future, I’m excited to see how capitalizing on these new communication methods will only further strengthen our team’s bond. The freedom to share our lives with the people we work alongside builds trust, dependence, and friendship, which will serve us well not only while we’re home, but also once we return to the office.


This blog is part of an ongoing, weekly series in Input Fort Wayne, following local small business owners and nonprofit leaders as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Read Reusser Design's previous blog here.