In our series "TWINSOFT'ler im Home Office" Gereon tells you what (big) role breakfast plays for him and why he has to work hard on his "gut feeling".
In the meantime, it has been quite a while since we decided to work completely from the home office except for one emergency service in our offices and the few colleagues who work on site during this unique situation under conditions at the customer.
"Real" feelings best in "real" conversation
Even if working in the home office was generously offered and used by us before Corona, I was rather someone who still drove into the office. I love seeing people and looking them in the eyes when I talk to them. The information that you take in a "real" conversation also outside of the words is essential for me to evaluate a situation, i.e. for my gut feeling.
Now, at the age of 54, I also grew up in a time when the real was far ahead of the digital and somehow it still shapes you ... subtly ... but firmly anchored. I would much rather continue to visit people than talk to them on the phone, text or "whatsapp" – even though I am of course glad that there are many digital ways to reach these people. The feeling of happy or sad eyes and the associated emotions also in me, cannot transport a digital medium.
We are always learning
So for me it is first of all "more strenuous" to work in the HO, because I lack many experiences and impressions that make it easier for me to develop the "right" feeling for decisions. This is something I have to "work hard" at the moment – and that, even though I have held the job of the company leader for 18 years now and therefore have some experience. Of course, this "difficulty" is not only due to the HO, but that the economic, organizational and health environmental parameters are currently changing almost hourly and thus decisions overtake themselves very quickly.
Telephone fork ≠ breakfast fork
Now I have written all this from the soul – but here it should actually be about giving a small insight into my HO everyday life. So:
I get up at 7:00 a.m. and make my first breakfast. Before the first coffee I am definitely not able to work and communicate – cliché fulfilled. When breakfast is on the table, I sit down with him and get my computer up.
During breakfast, only mails and chats are answered, the telephone (metaphorically) remains on the fork (phone fork, not breakfast fork!). So the first hour passes and from approx. 08:30h also goes the phone – or the video call.
Expect the unexpected
In addition to some recurring things, something unexpected / spontaneous always happens in my working day. Consequently, I usually take two to three things for the day (which might not last more than three hours in peace) and let the rest come to me. That this is the right way for me, I have found out for the past 18 years.
Especially in the home office and during contact restrictions, video calls have become very popular and important, as they are most likely to fill the "social" gaps. So I try to convince each of my interlocutors to use the camera. Ultimately, our job consists largely of relationships and social interaction ... at least that’s how I want it to be.
When "Sofa Time" transitions to "Bed Time"
And so the day goes very fast. Mainly I talk to my computer which shows me a picture of someone else who is also talking to the computer ? ... should there be short breaks, a few documents are quickly read and checked, a few e-mails answered, or tries to find the current information about the SARS-CoV2 virus. These are simply important for making decisions about which measures are best for TWINSOFT and our employees.
After the video calls become less from 17:30h/18h, I still use the last 1-2 hours of my working day to edit in peace a few mails that have remained in the normal chaos. Afterwards, it is no matter in which weather still fresh air, to give the body a little movement, but also to come down a little. Subsequently, I also earned my sofa time, which of course eventually flows smoothly into the "bedtime".
Tomorrow it goes on and now I don’t want to talk anymore ?
Greetings and take care of yourself wherever you are,
Gereon
