Coronaversary: a crash-course in agility for moving forward

Last week, our President of Brother International - Don Cummins, sent an open letter to all of our employees thanking us and reflecting on the one-year anniversary (March 12, 2020) when we shifted from working in a office building to our homes, while Brother’s essential workers in our logistics centers and office operations took on the added responsibility to keep themselves and their families safe as they continued to enter the facilities to keep our business running. 

Naturally there were challenges surrounding the way we work, our business operations, collaborating with business partners, but also the impact it had on our personal lives. From my lens, a majority of employees understandably struggled at times; balancing a new way of working with each other, being flexible as the business conditions changed, and in some cases making sure remote learning for our kids went smoothly. However, it was remarkable how our employees showed the prowess to "get stuff done".

Nobody could predict that a year later we would all be where we are today. Don reflected with authenticity about the things that people often took for granted - like handshakes and hugs, in-person meetings and travel, dinners out together and midday coffee runs with colleagues. He also provided a positive look forward to “our offices and facilities being filled again with employees, we'll send our children back to school, we will be able to gather together for special events, and our personal life will be focused on enjoying time traveling or spending time with friends and extended family”.

His positive message and look to better times ahead, made me reflect with a timely interaction. Last week, I attended a photo shoot for an upcoming product launch that a few of my employees were attending. Since it was 15 minutes from my home and it was a beautiful 65 degree day, I decided to take the short drive. When I arrived at the set (cleverly situated in a new home construction site), I had a surreal moment. Although we had all been on the same daily/weekly zooms, seeing my team in person was such a gratifying experience (even with masks on). It was clear to me that the interaction had a special meaning with excitement because it was “in-person”, not on a LCD screen. There was a silent, non-descriptive feeling of personal connection that just cannot (for me) be replicated via video conferencing. 

This is not to say that a remote workforce is not effective or efficient because it can be, and I for one (after some adjustment) have enjoyed it. However, the social interaction that happens with in-person desk “drive-by’s”, hallway conversations or lunch with coworkers actually has a lot to do with building strong relationships with coworkers and propels company culture. Having onboarded many new employees during our year-long absence from the office, they all have done a magnificent job in assimilating into Brother. But how much nicer could it have been for them to bond, build relationships and immerse themselves in their company with true face-to-face interactions?

Moving Forward: For the past year, Brother employees showed we were agile, with some challenges and at times with some stress, but we showed our resilience. This crash-course in dexterity was a good prerequisite for Brother's future endeavors. We can learn from this and it will guide to help us all if we can look back and remember what we did to keep our businesses running and how we supported each other. But also serve to remind us of what we were capable of as we move forward and continue to drive and thrive in a successful company with an outstanding culture.