Back-Track: What happened between 2017 and 2020?

This blog hadn't been updated in quite a long time. Why?

It was intended to be an easy, private notebook for me. Ramblings, thoughts, etc. During that time, I was using Twitter ( https://twitter.com/edhaack @edhaack) for quick, blurty blurts on findings - ultimately feeling overwhelmed (maybe). 

What happened, really?

Work. Life. Balance. Xceligent publicly and shamefully closed its doors a week before Christmas 2017. Previous co-workers talked about how I helped them and wanted my help on their projects. Ultimately, I siloed myself -- and have taken some time to reflect on the last 30 years.

Why come back here?

I think I wanted to return a more private, intimate and minimalistic platform. 

/shrug

Some of those tweets are kinda cool to go back and look at. I may just integrate this with that.

Remote / Working From Home

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

I usually refrain from mentioning current and previous positions I've held and will continue to do so. This is about the "better practices" of "working from home."

This is the first of a few articles based on my experiences.

When the COVID-19 quarantine threw everyone into a relative 'panic mode,' a VP asked me to write a short article on transitioning from working "in office" to "at home." There are a lot of these types of videos and articles available already, but it gave me pause to reflect on how this group and these teams work - cater to their culture.

Part 1: Communication

• Communicate with tact and courtesy. 
• Status is vital to success. There's nothing worse than not knowing what people are doing. The default thought is they are watching movies or housework. Which leads to...
• Trust on all sides. 
• Trust that you are adult and responsible enough to do your tasks
• Trust that your people are those adults, but expect status: good, bad or ugly
• Trust in the team to collaborate and be successful
• Tact: Focus on the tasks not the drama
• It's very easy to get caught up in the lack of face-to-face water cooler conversation. Be mindful of the above "Trust"
• Messages lack emotion (even with emoticons) - Always be sincere.
• Recognize potential disagreements.
• If messaging is failing and/or going beyond a simple question/answer synchronicity, it's time to pick up the phone.
• Take pause. Messaging is permanent. Read and re-read a conversation before planting a flag in a discussion
• If ever in doubt, pick up the phone.

[More to come]