With COVID restriction for offices largely lifted in Massachusetts, very low local and state-wide transmission rates, and very high vaccination rates, AEC is back in the office this week! The topic of how and why to operate a hybrid (work-from-home/work-in-the-office) workplace is a little far afield from AEC’s usual blog topics but is on our minds as members of our larger non-profit/consulting/energy/environment/EJ/equity community figure out how to transition back to something like normalcy after more than a year of working at home. So here are our thoughts and we’d love to hear yours:
Please chime in on Twitter, Facebook, and/or LinkedIn.
What we’ve been doing since March 2020: AEC’s office in Arlington MA closed on March 13, 2020. Since then, everyone has been working from home. A few people have been using the office (separately) a few days a week, just to get out of the house. During this time, we gained some new team practices and systems:
A Slack communication system for texting among staff members. We use this all the time, including to: check in when starting work in the morning, make quick requests and ask questions, chat with someone one-on-one, and chat with a specific project team.
Holding a morning Zoom call every weekday at 10 am. Everyone who is working that day (and can join) joins. There’s a little chit chat about who’s left the house recently, top news stories, etc., and then we check in about who needs tasks to do and who has tasks that need doing.
Including the entire staff (instead of just the more senior “professional” staff) in our weekly planning meetings. The research assistants have been a great addition to the meeting!
And, of course, we’ve been doing video conference calls with clients and colleagues. Lots and lots of video calls!
What’s our new plan starting this week: AEC’s offices reopened today on a hybrid plan. We're working to create a hybrid workplace to both (1) support staff’s need for flexibility to get quiet, focused time and also take care of family responsibilities and (2) recognize the value of face-to-face communication in our collaboration, teaching, and mentoring. Here's our plan as it currently stands:
Staff needs to be fully vaccinated to work in the office.
Anyone who is feeling sick, feels like they might get sick, or has a household member who’s feeling sick needs to work from home. No exceptions! We’re prioritizing keeping one another healthy and have added a hand-sanitizing station at the front door and re-fillable bottles on every desk. Staff are not required to wear masks, but visitors (who are very infrequent) are.
Each week will have: one “Office Day” where everyone comes into the office for staff meetings and trainings; one “Remote Day” where everyone works from home and inter-staff communications is kept at a lower level; and three “Choice Days” where staff can either come to the office or stay home (but everyone is asked to try to come in a least two days when possible).
We’re keeping our Slack channels, our morning meeting (including at home and in office participants, inviting the full staff to weekly staff meetings, and the practice of video conferencing with clients and colleagues often.
What’s your organization’s plan? We’d love to hear about it and share ideas about what works and what doesn’t. Send us a note! And good luck with the post-COVID transition!
