I met with Elizabeth over Zoom a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to know more about what we could learn from her, and her firm, who were quite the experts in this work-from-home set up. For those of us shifting to this approach for more exigent reasons, during the pandemic, surely this experience would be of benefit.

Elizabeth is a principal with a health economics consulting firm based primarily in the northeastern part of the United States. Her current work involves leadership and project management, drawing on quantitative and qualitative research, and managing clients. When she was hired by her current employer two years ago, it was made clear that her primary base of work would be her home. During the recent months of lockdown and work-from-home, Elizabeth’s level of comfort and success, while WFH, have made me think about, not only what mindset and skillset it takes to make this shift, but also other lifestyle improvements that the shift enables.

Much of her work is solo, reading, researching, coding—this work is easy from home, and so long as Elizabeth has a good mouse for her computer, she is happy! Interestingly, when her firm first decided to work in this manner, they determined that their connection would be by phone, not videoconference. Occasionally they use video with a client, but their approach is: you should not have to change out of your sweats to work with a colleague. Be comfortable.

As we talked, it quickly became apparent to me that Elizabeth possessed significant skills and a high level of self-awareness that made her really good at this work-from-home stuff. She has a deep understanding of both her own workstyle and also what makes her successful. She described looking ahead at her agenda for the day and the week, chunking the activities and timing, and considering how she might blend work needs with her personal to-do list for the day. She deliberately follows a fairly predictable daily schedule. In other words, Elizabeth explicitly uses compartmentalizing to maximize a good day’s living and working, creating a blended work-life.

Another assist in Elizabeth’s success in the WFH mode, is her good knowledge of and familiarity with her team members, gained from their frequent collaborative work over the two years or so they have worked together. For example, one colleague has a young child and the other members know to avoid a certain time for meetings with that person—easy to do—and not placing pressure on a parent removes stress for the whole team. The team members are currently also relatively “equal” in the hierarchy of the firm—in qualifications and work experience.

Naturally I was curious about on-boarding and orientation for new employees at her place of work. In fact, the firm is in recruiting mode right now, for some more junior analysts, so it is on the minds of the principals. Currently her firm does not really have much in place to orient new employees. Elizabeth recalls that most of her own orientation was during the interviewing process. In fact, the nature of Elizabeth’s prior work experience also meant that she did not need much orienting to her new role.

As we discussed the issue of on-boarding and orientation, Elizabeth reflected back on her first position, right out of college. She was much more junior and needed more help during that orientation period. She remembers people literally sitting next to her and giving her advice. Working in an office and being with people made that much easier. She wondered out loud too, as her current firm looks to hire some more junior analysts, what on-boarding and learning the culture might be like for them. There is definitely less contact in this virtual work-world.

Our conversation drew to a close as Elizabeth reflected a bit more broadly about the nature of work, and in fact the reason we had initially begun the conversation a few months previously. I had noticed that fewer people were describing a work/life balance and more were talking about a blended life. This idea of blending completely resonated for Elizabeth: “Let’s face it, she said, the idea of a 9-5 office job is very outdated. Many of us, in the kind of work I do, can work anywhere.” In the 9-5 role that Elizabeth played in her former position, first of all it was never 9-5! She worked all hours during evenings and weekends—and not just in the office—at home too. Her relationships and her health suffered. She formed a comfortable relationship with her co-workers and that became her social circle; it was easy, a drink after work, etc. She could also grab takeout or a bag of chips in the office when she was working odd hours—but now she can make a salad or a healthy sandwich and feel a whole lot better.

Elizabeth cited Daniel Pink’s excellent book Drive as a good resource that had resonated with her. He describes the “knowledge” or the “creative” economy and talks about how the more flexible your workspace is the more creative you will be.

In addition, she has developed work and non-work friendships and she and her spouse, who works his own crazy schedule as a doctor, can take time together for a quick cup of coffee or lunch. Blending your life in this manner, Elizabeth believes, removes a lot of the stress you feel when “work flows into life.” A great example is the work she does with clients in multiple time zones—and her firm has its fair share—if she has a call at 7 PM for the West Coast, or 7 am for Europe, she can plan her day around it and take the dog to the vet at 10 AM, and not “miss work.” Again, relieving unnecessary stress and ensuring time for more creativity and good thinking.

Elizabeth chose to work from home and the benefits she derives from it are obvious—I expect her organization also gains a great deal both from her and her team colleagues as they enjoy this blended lifestyle.

What can we learn from this? Employees who know their workstyle and are willing and able to add to the strength of the team will be good at WFH, or any more independent work. Based on Elizabeth’s experience, there are recommendations here for leaders of remote teams: orientation to the rules and guidelines to working from home will be helpful; attending to team dynamics, especially when the team members are not “equal” in hierarchy and experience makes sense. Even though it may seem a bit elementary, understanding what kind of home office set-up and routines will work best for team members will pay off. We know it is likely that many organizations will incorporate WFH into their operations in the future; clearly there can be enormous pay-off for employers and employees. Understanding more about how this approach can work well, and how to reap collective benefit, will be valuable in so many ways.

ADDITIONAL BLOGS THAT COULD BE OF INTEREST