When your strategic outlook bites you

It seams like decades ago when I published an article on LinkedIn about home office trends as part of the new future and why it is important for companies and employees to look into it. But it is really hard when the CEO of your company is publishing an article a week later arguing profoundly and very much on point why home office should not be the future of work in a broader sense.

So while you start thinking what you got wrong in your strategic outlook and analysis of the outside world and your own experiences - we all got hit by COVID-19 and forced to work from home to accelerate your learning curve - while supporting #flattenthecurve by #stayathome .

This week was my 14 day anniversary in my home office because myself was one of the first to go on full isolation after doing the analysis of corona virus figures in Italy and Spain. I remember the Wednesday evening sending my findings and a graph of development of infections in Europe to my executives. On my way out of the office I met the head of our department and we discussed my email. We agreed I would stay at home the next two days and will meet on Monday to discuss how to handle the coming weeks. The rest is history and we all remember the announcement of our chancellor a week ago. Germany is doing the right thing and the results will proof that next week I am sure.

I have to admit my home office equipment was put to the next level and I broadened my focus as well on the relaxation area of my balcony and sporting equipment as you can see below.

So I conclude my work from another place and develop strategic outlooks for the business in times of Corona and most importantly after that. I have a beard since more than 10 years now so there is no change for me in that department. In my spare time I am setting up my family and friends with laptops, iPads, 4k web cams and AirPods to share my experiences for my first article on the topic of home office. Colleagues and family members, who were scared to use web cams or FaceTime calls all their lifes, are now doing daily video calls for taking a break. Even my 83 year old dad adapted his new iPad within a day and we are doing family video calls. This development is just amazing and its humble to be part of it. It makes me feel thoughtful of the times we are living in. Being part of Deutsche Telekom is making employees feel special because our job is making an impact of families and colleagues to feel connected in these challenging times.

While being separated from the office - don't get isolated

After two weeks we encounter also the difficulties in working from home all by our own. We shouldn't underestimate those indications and should keep an eye on our well being:

Isolation can't be overcome by video calls and shopping walks

We are communicating all out life and are social human beings. We love to take a walk to the desk of your colleague and tease him with a fresh coffee or orange juice to take a walk outside the office for chatting about last weekends football results. (ok - that are two depressing thoughts in one sentence. I should be more careful finding my examples). While virtual coffee breaks on FaceTime are nice and distracting - they don't taste like the real thing. Keep moral up until the days are back and value the simple things we took for granted for too long. Enjoy the walk around the city because springtime is coming. But don't forget sun screener to protect your skin after the home office experience.

Video Calls give you a view - but they blur the private and professional life

The happy isolated social drinking events have spike apps like 'houseparty' to bring friends together after work to keep the connection lively. But most of us having several conference calls during the day. So having another video chat with your friends to celebrating finally writing that last email is just feeling... not much different. Maybe the chat with a neighbor from across the street across balconies does feel more relaxing and might be a new experience for many of us.

Cooking is the new black - but don't forget your local dealers

So get a burger, deli lunch from your local shop or a fresh virtual coffee from around the corner tomorrow because you want to have them around when this crisis is over and we will move back to a world as we know it from four weeks ago. Also some of us are not as much talented in the kitchen as all the bbq videos want to tell us - like those students in Italy proof the firefighters the other day by cooking noodles without boiling water for that.

Enjoy your weekend after this productive week. Inhale fresh air, keep the social distancing, stay at home and take time to talk to your family and loved ones. Hopefully we will see improving numbers from the health experts next week and the light is not only sunshine but also at the end of the tunnel.

We for sure will keep working to let you stay connected because #wewantstop until everybody is connected. #dabei