Remote working at Lovebox: how me make sure it works for everyone!
Aaaah working from home, for some of us it means comfort and time saving: no more traffic jams and organizational stress, for others: loneliness and lack of interactions. At Lovebox we have been teleworking for 2 years and here is what we have implemented to make it as joyful as possible.
Disclaimer: our team has grown a lot since the beginning of 2020, from 6 to 14 people, so we often adjust our working methods.
1# A choice
We believe that in order to have a strong, efficient and happy team, each team member should be able to work in a comfortable environment that allows them to combine work, family life and hobbies! This is why teleworking is a choice at Lovebox (of course, except at the moment, covid obliges). Today, our beautiful team counts 14 team members, 5 are permanently teleworking from Lyon, Brest, Sydney, Paris and Barcelonnette while the rest of the team is in our beautiful capital of the Alps, Grenoble. The 9 team members in Grenoble have a comfortable office they can go to, but for the moment there is no obligation. However, we are thinking about setting up one or two mandatory days on site (for those who live near the offices) to facilitate exchanges between the different divisions. This is a subject that is being discussed collectively to make sure it does not become a burden for anyone!
Behind the choice of teleworking, there is also the desire not to limit our recruitment to a geographical area in order to find the profiles that perfectly match the needs and spirit of the team!
2# The Lovesite
We are strong believers that technology allows us to stay in touch, and share good times (isn’t the Lovebox a good proof?), but we are also convinced that it does not replace a warm human contact. That is the reason why every three months or so, the whole team gets together for a week of work in a different location.
The goal? To get together, to reinforce the team spirit and to brainstorm until the last drop of our ideas is extracted 🤯.
Brainstorming and workshops involve every division in order to build the future of Lovebox together, regardless of position or seniority!
This is a high point of our year which allows us to determine the course to take or to change, as well as the objectives for the year.
It is also an opportunity to learn more about the singing and dancing talents of some of our colleagues, to be defeated by our boss in ping-pong and to delight our taste buds with other team members’ culinary secrets.
Yes, we call this work 😄
3# Efficient communication tools
Unsurprisingly, as in a couple, the key to successful teleworking is … communication!
We use several tools to make it as efficient as possible:
- Slack for our daily discussions. Slack is our voice within the team. It’s the application that stays open all day long so that we can exchange on every subject. On our Slack you will find very serious subjects, but also a music channel, DIY, Animal Crossing villages, funny pictures and some … well, a lot of team members’ memes 🙂
- Notion : our number 1 tool ! It allows us to reference all the processes we use on a daily basis and to make them easily accessible to everyone. We have a simple principle: the information must be shared (very practical when we welcome a new team member and in case of absence).
- Google meet: is it really necessary to present this tool?
- many very obscure developer tools that only the dev team knows how to use 🧙
4# Going beyond the scope of teleworking
Just because we do not work in the same office doesn’t mean we have to get rid of the weekend anecdotes and of our colleagues’ jokes!
To make sure our discussions do not only concern work, we set up moments to have coffee together (the equivalent of a skype aperitif but without alcohol), we made the Christmas tree in visio and we play Pictionnary every week. Something to relax together and share good times (except when it is always the same person who wins!) 🙂
We also have a ritual every Wednesday: we start with good news before introducing our week’s sprint. By looking carefully, we always find something positive to share. That’s how we learn that some of us have managed to grow a watermelon in Grenoble, to ride a 20km bike in the snow in shorts, to adopt a cat or to become a mom and dad 🎉
The idea is to keep lightness and humor in the exchanges, which can be complicated at a distance. Usually you don’t hesitate to make a joke to your colleague sitting next to you, on the other hand you hesitate much more when you have to call him: you are afraid to disturb him, and if he doesn’t laugh … not to be able to play it down in front of a screen 🙈
5# Trust and caring
The essential keys, whether at work or in life in general: trust and caring!
Trust: at Lovebox our organization is based on trust. Trust that each employee is doing their best and giving their maximum to move projects forward. Each member of the team is responsible for his/ her position, which allows us to enjoy a lot of autonomy and freedom in our work.
Caring: when a colleague is teleworking, you can see their interior, their socks drying on the rack 👋, the spouse who comes by to say hello, the children coming into the room, the neighbors doing work, the said colleague in leggings on their couch … and as long as it doesn’t affect the working conditions, it doesn’t really matter. We are all going through a difficult period that lacks fun and carefree so we let go of appearances, and most of all, we make sure our colleagues are doing well!