One year on - How we are navigating the pandemic
Saturday, 13th March 2021, marked one year since everyone in our EMEA & LATAM HQ in Dublin were last in the office together. Since then, like many others, we have been working remotely following Government guidance to stay apart, to keep our community safe.
One of our core values as a company is that relationships matter. Our business itself is built on relationships. Not just the community of members on LinkedIn, but also the community we have as colleagues and friends.
Being apart has been difficult, especially for those of us who are living alone, or away from their family. A stark contrast to when around 1,600 of us would be sitting together in Wilton Place for lunch.
While we are still in the midst of a lockdown, thankfully there is a sense of light at the end of the tunnel. I have been humbled by the efforts of everyone on our team who continue to go above and beyond for members, customers and colleagues everyday. It’s been truly inspiring to see how our team has adapted so successfully to working from home.
Successfully working from home
It is our sense of community at LinkedIn that has helped us navigate our way through this difficult journey. We have tapped into that sense of community to lift our spirits and strengthen relationships even while we find ourselves physically apart.
We have explored different options to keep everyone motivated, using our virtual All Hands to give new hires the chance to connect with colleagues; sharing photos; setting creative lockdown challenges; and sharing tips for outdoor activities within 5km of home, to name just a few.
Successfully innovating from home
One activity which brought people together was learning to play the ukulele as a company after being inspired by Bressie’s Lockdown Ukulele Rockdown project. We were intrigued by the connection between music and mindfulness, but more importantly how replicating the idea as a company would help colleagues connect with others and recreate that sense of community that we had enjoyed pre Covid-19.
When 1,000 of our colleagues came together in December to put on a music festival for the company, I was blown away by the talent of the team and amazed how quickly such a large group could create something magical.
Opportunity to Reimagine
- The future of work
We continue to follow the Irish Government’s guidelines, with our team working remotely for the past year and continuing to do so as advised. It has given us a moment to pause and think about how we will work in the future, giving our team greater flexibility. We have seen how this can and does work.
2.The future of the office
The development of our new campus at Wilton Park has been put on hold in line with the construction sector closing as part of the lockdown restrictions, which we are fully supportive of as it is in the interest of public health. This also has given us a chance to reimagine how we will use the space in a post Covid-19 world. We will now take our time to design a space that reflects the community we have built in Dublin and how we see it growing in the future.
Staying the course
Ultimately a sense of community at LinkedIn and across Irish society has kept us going through the pandemic and is what we will continue to build and nurture as we emerge from it. Relationships and community really do matter. I couldn’t be prouder of the compassion, resilience and creativity I’ve seen from each and every one of our LinkedIn Dublin family.