2022 is here, which means it has been two-ish years since the pandemic forced us to turn our homes into makeshift offices. I remember when we all thought that the situation would be over in a matter of weeks and that we would return to our offices as if nothing happened.
Fast forward to today. Nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed. If anything, the past year (2021, in case you’ve stopped checking the calendar) has taught us that we needed to unlearn old habits and form new ones if we wanted to adapt to what everyone affectionately calls the New Normal.
Working in 2020 meant working from home. If you were lucky enough to have a home office, then you were already better off than most people. Many among us had to carve out space for a workstation in our already cramped houses and apartments. Those with roommates with different schedules found participation in meetings very challenging. But we all trudged through it with the expectation that our situation would be temporary.
And this is the part where the narrator says, “And then things got worse.”
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Sure, we kept working from home in 2021, but we quickly learned how to integrate work and home life. We developed our emotional intelligence just from listening to a person’s voice or translating their digital body language. And we built trust with our colleagues and had productive discussions, even with the cameras off.
It also helped that the technology sector was more prepared than others to transition into a world of virtual meetings and remote project management. While that doesn’t mean that people didn’t struggle, most workers can learn a thing or two from them.
Here are some of the lessons we can apply in 2022.
We can increase productivity while working remotely
I know that emails and video conferencing can’t fully replace face-to-face communication, but the tech sector has made great strides to make the experience better for everyone.
Emojis became one of the most useful tools of 2021. Whatever video app you’re on (e.g. Slack, Teams, Zoom), you can use emojis to say what you’re feeling or doing without having to utter a single word. Many complain of a Zoom fatigue these days, but it is not necessarily to be on camera all day long. Using emojis is a lifesaver for this case. Constantly showing the reactions such as thumb up, laugh, heart, coffee cup, etc show your presents and active listening. Sometimes you can’t speak up right away even if you are in a face-to-face meeting and your feelings might be lost during the discussion, but you don’t have to wait for your turn to place the emoji.
Simple smiles could help in written communication too. You can pepper your messages with emojis to show empathy, your mood, and the level of urgency. The appropriate emojis can even be more effective than real-life body language to communicate mood and intent. Appeared that the right emoji could be very helpful for people with a lack of emotional intelligence. Having difficulties to read people’s gestures, mimics and intonations, these people are grateful if we place the emoji to show what we feel during the chat.
Written communication (i.e. emails, chat) became less conservative and more reflective of how we speak in real life. More collaboration is also happening in chat rooms than inboxes. Instead of wasting time writing greetings and structuring emails, you can get straight to the point through private chat. Pro tip: If you’re struggling to catch up on your emails, a simple “I got it” through chat can go a long way in reducing frustration on both sides.
People also started scheduling focus time on their calendars. Now, imagine doing that in a physical office where anybody could just tap your shoulder at any time and drag you out of The Zone.
Losing some formality helped us deliver more value to our customers and increase transparency and information flow.
Work hours also became more flexible, allowing people to find their productivity peaks and deliver the best work and value. More privacy also means less stress from being watched and observed all the time, which can translate to better productivity. Instead of engaging in productivity theater, people are free to take short breaks between tasks and be more refreshed and sharp during meetings.
Even if we manage to return to the norm, most internal and external surveys show that most people prefer remote or hybrid work. According to FlexJobs’ 10th Annual Survey (conducted between July and August 2021), 58% of respondents report wanting to be full-time remote employees post-pandemic, while 39% want a hybrid work environment.
I believe that remote and hybrid work is the future of collaboration and innovation. A company’s potential talent pool is no longer limited by geography. One can hire team members from all over the globe, which will help decongest big cities and spread wealth more equitably.
Online tools are only going to get better, and more essential
Many of the most popular collaboration tools went above and beyond in 2021.
For instance, when I first used Miro in 2017, it was just a simple board for brainstorming ideas and turning them into visuals. Honestly, I didn’t think much of it at the time. I found that physical walls and whiteboards were definitely more useful when brainstorming. In the last two years, however, the Miro team updated their tools and introduced a host of new features that covers every team leader’s possible need.
Even in normal times, leaders and managers already find it difficult to motivate team members during group discussions. So it’s no surprise that their challenges increased tenfold when meetings moved online. The loss of physical body language also affected collaboration and empathy. Imagine giving your team a pep talk and you can’t even see their faces or their body language. During online brainstorming and conflict resolution discussions, it can be a challenge to make sure that everyone is heard and to find a common ground in their ideas.
Enter the new Miro. The boards definitely helped in generating new ideas and improving discussion quality. A team leader could use the timer to limit speaking time for some, while stickers helped introverts express their feedback. The voting system also made discussions more democratic, and the board frameworks helped the facilitator to stay on track. And I can say that a visual graphic agenda is more effective than a boring printed one from Microsoft Word.
Zoom breakout rooms are also useful in organizing smaller group discussions without scheduling separate meetings. It was now possible to have 100+ people in a room and keep them all engaged. New tools and features ensure that collaboration happens in real-time and prevent the dreaded Zoom fatigue that happens all too often to many team members.
I believe combining multiple tools will make remote work a viable alternative to working in a physical office. You can organize a Zoom brainstorming session, and have the participants use Miro at the same time to facilitate the discussion. And if you need to break up the room into smaller teams, you can just have them talk in their own breakout rooms. Active online collaboration has never been better.
Online team building and networking can be fun
Let’s be honest: There’s nothing more depressing than an “online team building.” Not only are they mandatory, but they also tend to be dull. But that was in 2020.
In 2021, we saw the rise of virtual spaces and gaming platforms such as Kahut, Kumospace, and Gather Town that promise to bring people together and boost team spirit. And I must say, I am impressed.
Nothing brings the team closer together than laughter and fun. If you’re looking for a sure way to increase morale, just have them solve a mystery as a team. Or maybe they can roast each other during a friendly rap battle. And now, you can do all of that online.
You can create an online space that fosters meaningful connections in a way Zoom can’t. For instance, on Gather Town and Kumospace, people can meet up in a cafeteria, a garden, or even the beach. They can talk in large or small groups, and have virtual cocktails with them. And who says virtual interactions have to be boring?
And we’re only going to see more changes in the near future. Who knows? Maybe we’ll all be hanging out in the Metaverse and live in a world similar to Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One.
What’s next
As remote work evolves, so will technology. But there is one specific tech that I think will forever revolutionize the way we work online.
What if you can make your team feel like they’re in the same room?
I’m talking about spatial audio. Spatial audio is a general term about the techniques that give listeners the impression of sound coming at them from three dimensions. I believe we’re going to see this technology in more collaborative tools and platforms in the near future. Just recently, Apple added spatial audio to its Apple TV and Apple Music platforms.
I’m excited to see what else 2022 will bring us, but stay tuned for my next article where I talk about spatial audio in more detail.
