My Navigation of the 2020 Workplace: Covid & Beyond

My last "normal" commute into work:

It looked like it was going to be the typical 45 minutes with the N-99 traffic and packed C-line buses. I wasn't terribly inconvenienced when the first bus skipped my stop, as the second came only 2 minutes later. It was roomier, meaning there was a seat left. I relished the option to sit, still re-living having tread on someone's shoes the day before, unable to apologize from the tide of people forcing me further into the last remaining crevice of space. All, so…normal. Once off the bus, I walked by the Seattle Pacific University campus. Students and teachers made their way to the different halls with coffees in hand, parking lots and lanes were filled with cars. Even at 9 am, the traffic stacked up as I came to the door of 2 Nickerson. This commute stands out in my memory. Despite the monotony, and despite it being over 2 months ago, I can recollect every detail about it.

It’s been 10 weeks since I’ve experienced that kind of normal. And I miss it.

I remember taking the concrete stairs up to the second floor, determined to hold this one small lifestyle standard every day. I would describe the office as open, intimate, something I’ve loved about it since even my interview. Rare was the day I didn't have a conversation with my 3 neighbors or with other co-workers in the breakroom. We talked about weekend plans while waiting for the Radial coffee to brew, the hum of conference room calls in the background. There were visits from reps providing samples or lunch & learns, consultants and clients passing through for meetings, UPS & Fedex runs, a sweet hello from Patty or Riggs (the regular pups of the office).

Always, there was movement around me. And now, it is still, except for the tread of my own feet in my home. 

The drastic change from being in a space with 30 other people Monday through Friday, to just myself, every day, has been strange and overwhelming. Though each person's experience has been unique since the transition to work-from-home, there is a shared sentiment that though no one misses the commute, we do miss the connection.

How do you maintain that connection when everyone is separated from one another? 

Holding Onto What Was 

One key practice for me is intentionality. Opportunities for organic and spontaneous connection have not been possible in this time of quarantine, but the rituals and traditions, formed while in person, can be maintained. We have tried to do that at SABA, by defining, communicating, and nurturing the parts of our culture that we shared. Our monthly cinema nights, once held in the lounge, are now streamed via Netflix Party. We still hold our Monday morning staff meetings, weekly Thursday happy hours with home-made cocktails in hand on Houseparty, and have internal team check-ins. It is on the macro and micro level that we keep the culture alive using the technology available to us.

But intentionality can’t be limited to the rituals of the past in order to function and cope during this tumultuous time. How do we process this drastic change in circumstances?

Notice What Is Right Now

The word normal is spoken a lot these days. I've heard it as the "new normal", the "(un)-normal", let's hope to "return back to normal", all the variations make this time feel dissonant and carved out from actual life. A life that makes sense will happen once we have defined or solved it all, but considering the uproot that Covid-19 has caused in every aspect of our lives, and the time required to heal a world-wide virus, right now where you sit is everything.

Where I sit, I have a full-time job, isolated in my home, and I recognize the privileges in that. In this uncertain time, and within my own fears and discomfort, I am grateful for it.

There is a sense of power in gratitude during this crisis. Indeed, a power in making the most of it.

Since the stay-at-home order was issued, there is a blurred sense of the workplace. Our physical spaces once devoted primarily to the personal are now restructured for the professional, and not just as an option, but out of necessity. Which means there is blurred mental space, too. It is hard to push through the foreseen and unforeseen hardships and perform at the same level prior to the rise of the pandemic. And though gratitude encourages us to make the most of what we have, it is understanding and flexibility that will make the circumstances navigable.

The approach at SABA is to look at work performance with that lens of understanding, practiced with transparency and an acceptance that efforts might be reduced, motivations affected, and demands shifted. There is still an expectation to perform, as we want our clients who are going through the same thing to feel supported, but there is an understanding that performance may invariably wane and grow with the uncertain tide. Along with understanding, a clear message of internal support is felt along the way.

On the individual level, there is a common thread of thought that one of the best coping methods to pay attention to is bodily health. Co-workers have mentioned how revitalizing it is to go on walks, to establish their work space near natural light, even moving said work space into the fresh air on the days that we've had stunning blue skies and sun. Architect Blair Sorlie and her pup Huck have done so brilliantly.

Flexible workspace example No. 1 - Architect Blair Sorlie’s creative layout on the porch, alongside her pup, Huck.

As another one of our architects, Kim Maxfield, described it, “making space for the blend throughout the day”. What has helped her is allowing her days some fluidity, which creates a new rhythm to remain engaged through the weeks.

Flexible workspace example No. 2 - Kim’s lovely backyard (that is Yoshi lounging in the grass).

Habits are having to be re-thought. One method, which resonated personally with me, was scheduled breaks to dance. One of our architects, Jenny Prieto, steps away from her desk for a 5 minute dance-break to popular salsa songs every day. Songs, I learned from her, that would be recognized everywhere in her home country of Colombia.

Considering the separation, it has been great to hear how people are navigating this time. It creates a brief, but real connection that has been difficult to work without. Like those small conversations in the office, the small virtual interactions build memories. All the chats, emails, Teams meetings, and Slack threads filled with snapshots of my co-workers lives remind me that we are doing something special in continuing on.

Quick digression: whether or not you want to learn salsa, these songs will shake up any Covid stagnation. I listened and danced to them. They are fantastic.

Preso - That Latin Brothers

La Rebelion - Joe Arroyo

Make Way for What Might Be

Since language around what is normal is constantly changing, there is a tug between innovation and restriction, exploration and caution. We are strained, but there is also an optimism that human connection will re-establish quickly when quarantine ends. Very likely a more conscientious kind, because people are hungry for the physical connection again, and still want to be safe.

That might look like communal spaces designed with emphasis on greater spatial distance and reduced density. The types of systems and ancillary furniture including a sharp increase in anti-microbial fabrics, may change accordingly. The individual space may hold a different value and take priority now that working from home has become a greater necessity, and a viable option. The extreme shift caused by Covid, wont disappear when shelter-in-place ends, it will make way for conversations of what is needed from and for employees; one of which now can be the home.

This is a long journey. We are treading carefully, and timelines are only easily alterable suggestions, which is unsettling. The remarkable thing, shown through history repeatedly, is that change is constant and we are both continual makers and weathered receivers of it. The architecture and design world has been questioning and exploring the best environments for companies to accomplish their health and wellness goals since the beginning of Covid. Now, as we come close to the next phase of reopening Washington State, these explorations and conversations demonstrate that we will continue to find paths forward.

. . .

When I think about my place at SABA, about our place as a firm in the collective design community that extends from Seattle to the globe, I see that there is solidarity in uncertainty. Connection existed before Covid, it exists now, and will continue to flex and re-shape to meet this harsh change. It will always remain.

.Kels.