Work From Anywhere: The Office, The Car, The Closet…
The Saturday Huddle is a weekly column that features opinion, analysis, and reflections on Huddle stories, podcasts, and business news in the region. Mark Leger is the Director of News Content for Acadia Broadcasting and Huddle.
It’s “Take Your Child To Work Day” every day in our house.
On a break from work in my home office, I went to pick up my daughter Ella and her friend from a singing lesson. A call came through on my work phone that I decided to answer. It was someone who wanted to share some concerns about a story a Huddle reporter was working on.
The call was coming through the car speakerphone and I knew Ella and her friend were listening. I tried to model good phone etiquette and made a special effort to listen to the caller attentively and give thoughtful answers to her questions and concerns.
Related: My Chat With The Phone Lady
When I got off the phone, Ella said she was quite impressed with the caller, saying she was kind and polite and wanted to know the background of the story. I then called Huddle editor Trevor Nichols to relay the conversation I had with the caller, and we talked about how to address her concerns.
This is how my days go now in my “work from anywhere” approach to my job. I’m often at the office in the mornings and home in the afternoons. The kids may need to be taken to music lessons or basketball practices mid-day and I take a break, always returning to work or taking it on the road with me in the case of those phone calls in the car. Sometimes, I work in a coffee shop near the rink or gym if I need to wait for them to finish.
Traditional workplaces like mine have adapted in the last few years as the pandemic accelerated the shift to remote work. In the beginning, everyone who could work from home did so for public safety reasons. But as the threat eased in people’s minds, more employees began to return to offices – some full-time. Many others remained at home exclusively or in a “hybrid” situation like mine.
Many employers are still not sure if their employees can be as productive at home as they are at work under the direct supervision of managers.
Related: This N.S. Engineering Firm Is Ahead Of The Curve On Remote Work
This week, Huddle reporter Derek Montague published a story about a Nova Scotia business owner with a diametrically opposing view.
In 2020, Anthony Winston and his family moved to Halifax after they became increasingly uncomfortable remaining in the U.S. after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
His engineering firm already operated with no head office and a remote workforce so he could easily relocate to Nova Scotia. Winston has always had a strong work ethic and often found it difficult to work for other companies.
“Honestly, I never liked going into an office when I worked for other companies. It just made no sense to me to sit at a desk, even if I didn’t have anything to do,” he says. “I’m not a lazy person at all; if I ran out of things to do, I’d go to the manager [to ask for more work].”
Now that Winston operates his own company, he looks for employees with the same dedication and sense of independence.
“When I’m interviewing, I’m very upfront and honest. If you like constant, face-to-face interaction, this is not the role for you,” he says. “We put a lot of trust in our teammates, and we don’t watch the clock here: we pay attention to results.”
Podcast: Another Year Of Growth And Prosperity In Atlantic Canada
On the Huddle “Insights” podcast this week, Don Mills and David Campbell answered questions from listeners and business leaders about the important economic development issues and trends in the year ahead.
Paul MacKinnon, the CEO of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, wanted to know what the “new normal” looked like in the terms of hybrid, home and office work.
“Recent reports from Canadian Chamber indicated that [more than 90 percent] of downtown employees still come downtown at least sometimes to work. And Avison Young is reporting that there’s been an overall 50 percent return to offices at this point, and the number keeps climbing. What will the ‘new normal’ look like?” he asked.
The answers to the question revolved around measuring productivity and value. For me, whether you work at home or the office – or the car or the coffee shop – Winston’s key insight is most instructive. “We don’t watch the clock here: we pay attention to results.”
As we were having this conversation about hybrid work and productivity, I was in my closet, my home studio for recording podcasts because the confined space, with a few blankets hanging from the walls, produces the best sound. It also allowed me to work in peace, knowing the kids wouldn’t know where to find me when they came from school.
After we finished recording the podcast, I had to take Ella to another singing lesson. It was 4:30, near the end of the traditional workday, but I still had more to do and a deadline to meet. Later that night, once the kids went to bed, I edited and uploaded the podcast.
You can work anywhere, anytime, as long as you get the job done.