Never before has working from a home office been more relevant than in these days of tackling the global Coronavirus pandemic.
I have had the opportunity and pleasure of working remotely for the past 6 or 7 years so to me it’s nothing new. Working from home is an extraordinary habit. It requires more than anything, self-discipline.
Challenges are many; should I do the dishes, mow the lawn, or do my weekend grocery shopping early, or should I sit down and write the blog post I meant to do? But to me, there are more benefits than challenges. I can sit alone and concentrate (at least when my kids get back to school!). I can be more efficient. I can plan my day without too many distractions. And nobody walks into my office with a coffee in hand to talk about everything and nothing.
At Pexip, where working on video is fundamental to what we do, culture is key to success and getting things done. Everyone in the company was invited to contribute to and document what our inherent values and culture are like. But that was last year and long before everyone was forced to work from home. Interestingly, one of the values we cherished the most was Freedom & Responsibility.
Freedom to plan your day, freedom to work the projects you believe in, freedom to do what you think is best for the company every day. With that comes the actual responsibility of performing and doing what you say you will do. Today, as everyone's working from home, Team Pexip proves that it takes that responsibility seriously. We get our jobs done, and often in a more efficient way than if we were in the office!
We lack the social setting of the office, though. The coffee in the morning. The chat after lunch. Engaging with others without having a purpose. And we are a company that - according to our findings - also values being Professional & Fun. How do you solve that when working in isolation?
The solution is as simple as it is effective. We have set up video rooms where people can join, leave, chat, laugh, banter, and socialize 24 hours a day. While being professional and efficient in our jobs, we have time to spend with others just for that fun bit.
And the effect shows.
People have a good time, and people engage. And not only that, video becomes the transport to getting to know people you would not necessarily walk up to in the office. Not to mention the fact that colleagues that always work from home and don't have local offices to go to feel even more included when everyone is working from home.
As we try to socialize virtually and meet world-wide challenges, never has it been more apparent that we act as one team. And yes, that is another of those four values we documented last year in our company-wide exercise.
In challenging times, Team Pexip really demonstrates how several of its values are heralded in its daily tasks. The values that we hold so dearly and that we all adhere to and use in our regular jobs are vital to how we're holding up. Not to mention how we perform. Our company values are with us in these days of crisis. We have freedom & responsibility in our jobs. We are professional but we also seek to have fun to keep morale up. And we stand together as one team. Finally, we do what is needed, and we say it as it is. Or, as we present it as the last item in our value statement: No Bullshit.
Want to be part of this awesome team? Take a look at our careers page.