Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Navigating the Uncharted Waters of Working From Home During A Pandemic
Back in March, COVID-19 was a faint worry in the back of our minds at JMG Public Relations. We had so many things happening, both internally and with our clients, so the idea of a pandemic made for a few ‘knock on wood’ and crossed fingers. None of us had any idea that a random Friday in the middle of March would be the last time we were all in the same office together. Nevertheless, it has been almost four months since being in our office and let me just say, we are all missing our desks right now!
Being in quarantine has certainly tested our team dynamic. Going from office brainstorms and news discussions to Slack messages and Zoom calls has been an adjustment for everyone. We recognize the position that we are in and consider ourselves lucky that during the middle of a pandemic, we are able to continue working and have our jobs be nimble enough to adjust. That being said, it has not come without its challenges. The PR world is always ever-changing and when you add in a pandemic to the mix, there will be an even more extreme shift. Our team at JMG has been able to adjust just as quickly. Slack and Zoom have been our saving graces and allowed us to maintain our normal schedules in terms of connection.
We have our morning meeting call every day around 9:00 am to discuss tasks and goals for the day, just like we would do in the office. We connect throughout the day via Slack and we also have our end of day Zoom call do discuss how the day went, things that got done and goals for the following day. While this has been an almost seamless transition, we can all attest to how much being in the office added to our day. Daily spontaneous conversations discussing pop culture, sample sales and music requests have all been lost. We do send each other random songs and articles from Hollywood Life to give us a short break from reality but I certainly miss playing our “Club JMG” playlist. So now, we’ll randomly pop on a Zoom to talk pop culture for a few minutes with the team.
Although missing the office has been a pain-point internally, externally we have been solid. I am so proud of our teamwork. Despite the circumstances, we have been able secure placements for clients to ensure that on the PR side of their business, they have not felt an impact. We managed a virtual event, said goodbye to our Spring interns who stuck with us and been amazing in adjusting to working from home and even onboarded a new round of Summer interns who also adjusted just as quickly. We also took this time to look at growth in a new way and acquire new clients and secure some other really big things for JMG’s future (all hush hush for now, but SO good). We are excited for things to be back to a new normal and we cannot wait to see how things that were implemented during COVID-19 will impact us in the future.
We also would like to take a moment to recognize our colleagues in the journalism industry who have been furloughed during this time. We see you and we are with you. We could not do our jobs without you and we hope that everyone impacted by COVID-19 struggles will end soon. Also, we would like to acknowledge and thank all of the essential workers who have carried on during this time. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for all that you are doing.
Xo - Lauren
