Working from Home Questionnaire

The previous blog post, 'working as a team from home', stated that Emily would create a questionnaire with 7 queries about how members of Archi4 have coped working from home, how they find working in a team over zoom and their overall lockdown experiences. 

We felt as a practice it was important to get a better understanding of how people are working from home and perhaps what people aren't enjoying working in a team and what we could do better. We left the questionnaire as anonymous as possible (as google docs tells you who has edited the document).

Some snippets from each of the answers to the questions are going to be copied and pasted below from the document. 

1. What has your experience been like working from home eg. have you enjoyed working from home? What is your home work environment like? 

• I have enjoyed working from home for the most part. I am lucky that I have a great home environment with the right tools and family support.
• It’s been quite good working from home, being able to just get on from the moment I wake up. The course we are on allows us a bit of flexibility.
• At time it can lead to procrastination as the environment is not a workplace where it is just work.

• Not having the social aspect of studio work has definitely been a hindrance to certain aspects of my work. 

• It is challenging in the sense that it is harder to find the motivation to work, but it is nice as im in the comfort of my own home in comfortable surroundings.

• As I had to move back to my family home once the lockdown started, it was quite difficult to adjust to being in a busy environment again as I was used to working in my quiet flat back in Portsmouth
• I enjoyed working from home mostly because we get along really well with my housemates and we supported each other during the change.

2. What have you missed about going into university? What don’t you miss? 

•  I miss the studio days and inspiration that comes with sharing the work done in our sketchbooks. I don’t miss how windy walking into Eldon building is.

• It can be helpful to get a picture of what other people are submitting and just having a general chat with someone face-to-face can be quite an improvement on our mental health.

• Face-to-face feedback helps you see things with a different perspective and point of view leading to ongoing improvement and you going forward with your work

• I don’t miss having to wake up earlier to commute in for a 9am lecture when it's just as easy to have the same lecture online via zoom.

• I miss being around my colleagues and exchanging conversation and even ideas about each of our projects. I don't miss driving into Portsmouth for a short lecture which could be done at home anyway.

• I have missed being able to discuss the work and share ideas in person during studio as this is a good way to get inspiration. I don’t miss having to go into Eldon early in the morning when I can watch the same lecture online.  

• We always get feedback and share ideas which allowed us to advance in our design projects more fluidly. It's more complicated to do it by zoom as it cuts out and the motivation lacks to share.

3. Have you felt unmotivated at any point? How did you help this?

• Yes at some points I have felt very unmotivated. To get out of this I gave myself some actual days off with no laptop or thought about work because I would find myself sitting at my desk not actually doing anything.
• Frequently, but I have heard that this is a common problem with many students currently, so knowing that this is a shared experience makes it a little easier. To try and become motivated again, I created a strict schedule to complete on time.
• At times not only do i feel motivated but confused about everything not knowing what stage everyone is at, whether i am on the right pathway or not.

• I have definitely felt unmotivated, working where you live can lead to an unhealthy work life balance as well as feeling like there is no separation of the two. To help myself get over this I have been going on small walks to get put of the house and also get some fresh air. 

• There have been many points where I have found myself unmotivated, I feel it most of the time. I have found that doing some exercise often helps me get in a better frame of mind to do work.

• I have been finding it hard to keep motivated since working from home as there are more distractions, and it is hard for me to stick to a schedule at times. I have started to plan out my time more effectively by separating the work into smaller tasks to make the process easier.

• Yes. Because of the lack of interaction. Tried smaller calls via facetime but it still isn't the same.

4. How have you found working in a team over zoom? Do you enjoy it or are you finding it difficult?

• I have found it mostly okay. We communicate well within our studio, we talk every day on the group chat and use zoom to hold our meetings once or twice a week.

• Not too bad. There’s always some sort of difficulty with communication but I think having strong leadership for the group helps everything progress very quickly and smoothly.

• Overall I really enjoyed it and made me more comfortable talking to the people in my studio.

• I have found working on zoom useful for meetings and lectures, however, for more practical aspects like studio I have found that zoom can be quite limiting.

• I find it difficult as people may have bad microphones, internet connection may drop out, or there are other inconveniences that don't allow for fluent communication.

• It has been much easier than I expected as we were able to decide on a schedule for the meetings quickly and everyone has a chance to discuss any concerns or ideas.

• I enjoy it, however, it remains difficult as we can’t always hear people who are trying to speak and sometimes it overlaps so our discussions becomes less motivating.

5. What do you think life will return to post-covid eg. do you think we will go back to working 5 days a week, 9-5 in an office or do you think working remotely will continue? 

• I don’t think work life will return to normal, as we once knew it. I think there will be more flexibility within the workplace, more options within what time to work eg some people work better in the evening than in the morning therefore can start work later.

• I think there will be a mix of both people working from home and people going into offices to work. I’m sure new ways of working will be developed in the future as a response to this pandemic and people will be being more careful in case it happens again. 

• I personally think it would be hybrid meaning a bit of both until we manage to gradually have it fully in person meaning working 5 days a week. Going back to doing it fully in person will be quite hard for a lot of people as we have all started to apart to everything taking place virtually and taking it step-by-step would make things easier for everyone.

• I think that working remotely for certain aspects will happen as its been proven that it is definitely possible however for more practical aspects I believe we will be working back in person as soon as its safe to do so.

• I think it may be more of a mix, but majority will go back to working in an office.

• I believe that there will be a combination of both working remotely when possible, especially for larger group activities however, I think that it will be more beneficial to meet in person when required with the correct safety measures in place. 

• Many firms have already created schemes of co-living and working. For some working domains it has proven easier to work from home so this will probably go on.

6. What do you want life post- covid to be like? Do you want the option to work from home some days of the week?

• I think mental health will be a better understood topic, work will no longer be the be all and end all to life and people will start to appreciate the little things we take for granted more. 

• I hope everything will be balanced better between keeping safe from another outbreak and keeping people mentally well. I believe working from home should be an option for many people if possible, as I think many have adjusted well to it. 

• at times working from home is necessary is a quite and peaceful environment as in a workplace it can be hectic at times, also assuring that us going back to in person and having face-to-face contact with the people around us would be safe for us and our families is something we need to be sure of at first. 

• Some lectures should have the option of being completed online. As I don't live in Portsmouth, I have to travel for a lecture, which costs petrol money and then parking fees, when it could be completed online.
• As I prefer to work from home for the most part, I would like to have the option of completing work remotely as I can focus better in my own space and I am able to adjust my work environment more easily.

• As part of the creative industry I am more interested in working in an interactive and lively office environment. I also find it healthier as we need to move and leave the house and be a part of the society. 

7. Do you wish you did anything differently over lockdown eg. do you wish you used the time more wisely to learn a new skill, get into fitness etc.

• I wish I wasn’t as hard on myself for feeling unmotivated because lockdown was a big change for everyone and those feelings were inevitable.

• I think more time should have been used to relax a little bit instead of having the pressure to learn something new as others have done.

• As all of this was very unpredictable in terms of when it would end and what was gonna happen after that, the confusement and stress led to me only wanting to focus on what I was assigned even though there were online courses I could have done.

• I definitely wish that I used the time to learn more skills or to take online classes in certain programs or softwares. 

• Yes, I wish I attended more classes and lectures and completed more fitness. However, I was really struggling at the time and didn't want to do anything.

• Yes, I definitely think that I could have made better use of my time by developing my skills within architecture, but I struggled to feel motivated and spent more time on my hobbies in order to distract myself from the current situation.
• I did get onto fitness more seriously during the first lockdown. However I've been decreasing, but I plan to get back on track with it. I might have been able to deepen my skills in softwares which I unfortunately didn't do.

Looking at the different answers to each question there seems to be the common factor: de-motivation.

A lack of motivation can quickly make you feel more stressed and behind on work making you feel even more unmotivated! It's interesting that although in 'normal' life we may have unmotivated days, they don't usually last weeks, so in person communication and studio days play a massive factor in our work ethic. Also getting outside, walking to university, having social contact or social events to look forward to also play a big factor in better our mental wellbeing and overall motivation. The next post will talk about each of our hacks to remove ourselves from a de-motivated rut. 

An argument to be had is whether or not working from home is a success or not and whether or not the working from home will continue post- covid. Answers to question 1 highlight how home environments are distracting and lead to a lack of work-life balance however, they are handy in saving time that is usually wasted travelling to the lectures and being more flexible. Hobbies have been developed, fitness has improved but inspiration usually found in the studio's has been lost. It seems having a more balanced work-life experience combined with the option of going into work when needed is the most popular choice of what life will be like post-covid.