Joy Seah: “It’s a strange new world, isn’t it? Yet, we’ve often found that when constraints are great and numerous, designers are compelled to think out of the box, and be innovative, so this counts as a good time for new solutions to arise, to the new problems!
The work-from-home system has generated some good things—better family life, more flexible working hours and so on. Just because we are working remotely doesn’t mean we need to be isolated. Technology really enables us to share ideas, keep in touch and find innovative ways to solve design issues.
Having already used Slack for five years now, we’ve had fun adding new Slack integrations that help with our workflow and communications. We do 15-minute meetings with Standuply (a Slack integration) each morning, starting with one person tagged to share something interesting they did at home the day before, and a quick round of status updates—made faster due to Standuply collecting the reports 30 minutes before the session. We’ve fostered innovation and sharing of ideas quite a few times over the last two weeks via Zoom and Screen; Screen is another Slack integration that allows for remote sharing of screens. It's particularly useful for highlighting details on a CAD drawing or an aspect of the design.
With clients and fellow consultants, we’ve realised that video conferencing can be quite effective in lieu of face-to-face meetings. Especially as we handle so many overseas projects, the impact on time and resource savings (reduced carbon footprint) is quite significant!
We’re big fans of screens. I use three myself and most of my colleagues have two. Having the space to set it up at home is a privilege and a real benefit! Wearing makeup and dressing up helps to establish a work zone… We’ve got our lounge music going, headsets for calls, and best of all, the gin bar is just a few steps away when it’s gin-o-clock in the evenings!”
(Related: Is Renewable Energy The Answer For Southeast Asia?)