5 changes we're making in our office after working from home

In our first article for Input Fort Wayne, I reminisced about a normal day at Reusser Design: Arriving at the office around 6:30 a.m., preparing multiple pots of coffee throughout the day, holding a daily team stand-up meeting, and the buzz of collaboration.

These were all staples of office life I’d come to expect and appreciate. As businesses begin re-opening after COVID-19, and life starts to operate outside of the home again, it begs the question, “What is our new normal?”

Nate Reusser of Reusser Design.

While our small team of 14 is taking a conservative approach and continuing to work from home while we can, we are excited to return to the office with a few new practices and processes in place we’ve learned during quarantine.

By no means have we mastered working from home, but we thought it could be helpful to share five practices that have worked well for us—and will hopefully continue to shape the way our team works as we go back to the office.

1. Communicating more frequently with our clients

Our clients are fantastic; they are the heartbeat of what we do at Reusser Design. Learning about their industries, understanding their target markets, and developing custom solutions to help them succeed in a digital age is our mission.

In one sense, working from home has kept us apart from our clients and normal face-to-face interactions that we thrive on. However, in another sense, working from home has propelled us forward in more frequent communication with our clients. We are much more comfortable jumping on a Zoom call or screenshare to talk through project details rather than passively waiting on a response through our project management system.

2. Encouraging mid-day breaks

While working from home offers many benefits our office doesn’t, such as a backyard to relax in, pets to snuggle, or pools to lounge by, it’s clear that our team has thrived during this time by implementing mid-day breaks as a source of refreshment

It will be important to encourage that mindset as we return to the office. Allowing time for a morning walk or encouraging an afternoon out on the patio to work in the fresh air will help carry over the flexibility working from home currently offers.

3. Including the team in the sales process

As our clients and sales prospects have new developing needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve enlisted the help of multiple team members early on in the sales process. With projects needing cross-functional elements and out-of-the-box solutions, relying on the strengths of our team for ideation has been a huge benefit.

Not to say this hasn’t been done before, but it’s proving even more beneficial as we work remote. It’s been a great way to keep the team connected and help them see where we’re going as a company.

The team at Reusser Design works in their Roanoke office before COVID-19.

4. Redefining processes based on our new perspective

While it seems like we are always improving upon our processes (for gathering content, getting UX designs approved, running QA checks on websites, and more), working remotely for the past few months has allowed us to view our processes in a new light.

In a sense, our clients are always “remote” to us, as they don’t work side-by-side in our office like we do. Being remote has helped us catch gaps in the process that may be confusing for clients to follow along or understand. These gaps that call for improvement humble us and drive us to redefine existing processes to provide the most hospitable and seamless experience for the clients who choose to work with us.

5. Continuing to share life with one another

As I shared before, our team has grown uniquely close during our time apart. Having the freedom to open up and share parts of our personal life has not only deepened friendships, but also contributed to a more trusting work environment, as well. Promoting this culture of openness will likely permeate much of what we do as far as team meetings, daily stand-ups, and more. It is our hope that as genuine friendship continues to form, trust will deepen and projects will strengthen.

Again, we don’t consider ourselves experts in working from home—especially during a global pandemic. (Who could?!) And we know some of these practices are not feasible for every industry to entertain implementing. However, these are things that have worked for our team, and we hope to continue learning and growing as we strive to incorporate them into our life back at the office.

We are always open to learning, as well! If you have other ways your business is bringing work-from-home life into the office, feel free to start a conversation with me on LinkedIn.

Now more than ever is the time to learn from one another.

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.