It has been over four weeks since it was announced [with the extension until April 30 made official yesterday!] that we will all be in a work-from-home (WFH) arrangement which started last March 16 [Monday], until the world heals from COVID-19. We are still waiting for developments, and quite honestly the numbers are just picking up as the test kits become more and more available in both the Philippines and Indonesia.

The week before we rolled out the WFH arrangement, the decision was like an elephant in the room, waiting for it to be acknowledged, as the management did everything in its control to assure maximum capacity in workforce + tools necessary for us to deliver our tasks and KRs, especially to cater to our clients and partners’ needs. The news came as gradual as the increasing number of the positive cases in the country. There had been talks that there were positive cases in BGC, and that was when everything just clicked and felt true, as it hit close to our office home base.

On the last Friday before the lockdown happened, we brought home our work essentials, and fixed it on its temporary space in each of our makeshift home offices.

And then the quarantine began.

On our first Monday, it felt a little bit weird to align with each team online and even more so to do our every Monday Radio Taiso [exercise], but hey we did it! With the help of online video communication tools, we were able to practice responsible -- and fun! -- order of tasks, and duties. We also use this extensively cool digital tool where we can see each other [albeit in a 1-minute screenshot frame!], and see if we are online, offline, or away and taking a break.

This is where the fun part starts! Remember I mentioned it takes a screenshot of what you look like in real time? There have been quite a few (a lot!) of interesting screenshots that this wonderful tool had taken since we started WFH.

Ah, yes. I have never felt more close, up-close, and personal with all the team members of PH and ID office. Hahahahaha! Ahh, it brings fun in what would be quite an isolated emotion, being away from human contact and connection in person. It helps us get by. :)

We have also been efficient with our team meetings! We started hosting team alignment, meetings, and our weekly team sessions, such as the Good and New, Win Sessions and All-Hands in ZOOM.

I enjoyed these online meetings! It’s a great break and refresher. It makes us feel like we are together at the office, only more straight to the point, and direct because you never know when your Internet connection would fail you, and leave you screen-frozen. But hey, we get by! And by the looks of it, we will come through successfully. Hang in there, team!

The team has gotten even more connected, and the team and I are just discovering how we can make use of our time wisely and manage our loads efficiently with the use of these tools. We also gave a shoutout to our partners, whom we value and are grateful for during this trying time.

Aaaand of course, when there’s work -- there’s also parties! After all, this is #wherepartiesstart!

We had a blast singing the Happy Birthday song to Beth last Friday via ZOOM! Check out that reaction, ah yes -- we all love a good [online] surprise!

Things might be a bit of a challenge now, but I’m sure these experiences are teaching us a whole lot of learnings we can bring to the table once all of this is over. I hope it will be sooner than later. But who knows really? Until then, we will continue to deliver the quality work we came to do, to work towards achieving our Key Results, and to find the light in this global pandemic.

We got this, team! We will win in this challenge as a team.

Until hugs are acceptable form of hellos again,

Kara