Working from home : Feedback from the team at Tranquil IT (part. 1)
We have deserted our offices on the outskirts of Nantes to give priority to our respective buildings! The seperation with the companys PS4 has been difficult for a number of employees, but we are surviving! Especially Simon who decided to take it home with him.
In our previous article, Vincent explained our transition to working from home. Now, the stage belongs to the employees. We have collected several testimonials from them, for this article and the next!
It’s a good thing it didn’t turn out that way …
Working from home, from the perspective of Emmanuel our Communications Manager :
Before we began working from home :
I am lucky to work for a company that is very reactive, although it must be said that our numbers allow us to be more flexible. Therefore we were able to put the respective measures into place to begin working from home. We are happy to say that we were operational after just 2 days of preparation!
We also took advantage of our last day at the office by pulling together our last face to face meeting! After that, all I needed to do was export my browers bookmarks (my precious everyday tools) and retrieve some files that were hanging around my virtual desktop. I collected my laptop and noteback, and left light hearted!
How are my days passing now?
The confinement measures have limited us to working part time. As there are two of us who handle communication and marketing, we have created a simple schedule : My colleague Camille works in the morning and I work in the afternoon.
- Thus my mornings are essentially dedicated to sports and reading. It sounds very “leisurley” when you put it that way, but it’s mostly because I wake up pretty late and don’t have much time to do other things to be honest!
- In the afternoon I start to work, so for me the biggest challenge of the day! I try to get ahead on different projects without overwhelming myself by elements that arise from day to day. I, who dared to think that before confinement the days were too long…
- Most of the time, I pass my evenings with friends… On Discord, of course ! I have lost count of how many times I have played on Wolfy and Minecraft after three days. The rest of the time, I do what everyone else does : browse the internet, household chores (the joys of having a cat) catching up on series, YouTube, etc.
Overall, it’s not too complicated to work from home, right?
I was one of the few people that was not excited about the idea of working from home. The comfort and atmosphere of our office has certainly charmed me too much. At the moment, my desk is lost a bit of is presence, since it’s just a kitchen table, a chair and my laptop!
The “problem” with Tranquil IT it that we have all the tools we need to work the way we want (or need to) and collaborate with each other from home (without any latency!) So I no longer have any arguement against working from home. All these tools mean that we have managed to uphold the most important asset in internal communication : the circulation of information!
- I want to make an important announcement? I simply post it in our dedicated chat room in Rocketchat.
- I need specific information? I head over to our Mumble server to discuss “over the phone” with the concerned party
- I need to access a document? I can access our Seafile and find and modify the document online.
- I am missing an application? I install in with just a click with WAPT Self Service.
There you have it. This is why we don’t have any fear when it comes to working from home. I am blossoming even though I am confined! With the exception of human contact, we have managed to replicate out working methods. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, considering the quality of some of our Friday morning jokes…
Working from home according to our Sales Assistant Elle Trevits :
Preparations for working from home :
Amid everything that is going on, I feel at Tranquil IT we are tackling working from home like champions ! Thanks to our hardworking tech team for helping us all set up our laptops, and our communication/ sales team for making sure we got in contact with our clients to explain how we will be working during this situation. As a team we have worked together to experience as little change as possible as we transitioned to working from home.
The advantages of working from home :
In my situation , I am very grateful to be working in France and at Tranquil IT because I can rest assured that I will be able to keep my contract as well as continue to receive my salary and benefits, which unfortunately may not have been the case in the United States (my home country). Here I am able to work from home half days, while still receiving 85 % of my salary as well as all of my health benefits.
Working from home with Tranquil IT :
At Tranquil IT we have put all measures into place in order to have our work experience be the same as it was before we began working from home. I have access to everything I need, which gives me the same privileges that I have in our office. I am also able to communicate easily and quickly with my colleagues, thanks to Rocket chat and Mumble.
With Seadrive, any items I need to have reviewed, or any changes I make to documents,can easily be accessed by my colleagues. All they have to do is access the file online. If you forget the fact that I work in my pyjamas and wake up a little later, I really have the impression that I am working at our office in Saint-Sébastien-Sur-Loire. In the end, nothing has really changed, except for my interactions with colleagues and the view from my window!
Overall I am extremely thankful for everyone on my team that helped make this a smooth and easy transition during a difficult and confusing time !