We at Sariba are a complex group of people. We have different ages- we both live and work in different places,some have young children, some have adult children, while others don't have children. So we find ourselves in different life situations. The situation coronavirus has put us in is therefore perceived differently for most of us, but what we have in common is that we all contribute in the national effort against the Coronavirus. We do this by working in a home office. Working from home is used to most of us, but combining home office and home kindergarten and homeschooling, and that all social interaction should happen via Skype, it was new to all of us.
Our colleagues Katrina and Maja have blogged about their new everyday life.
Home office and home children's garden. And home school!
In the last few weeks, everything has been turned upside down. For the world, for Norway, for the Norwegian economy, for jobs, but also for me. Working in a home office is one thing, I'm used to that from time to time, but combining home office and home kindergarten AND home school, it was new. And challenging.
I'm a mom of two,an 11-year-old boy and a girl of 2. It goes by itself that they basically have quite different needs. As usual, that's not a problem. She's 2 in kindergarten, and he's at 11, he's at school, he comes home and does his homework. He's a good guy. But when everyone is at home at the same time, it is clear that this presents a whole lot of new,and unprecedented, challenges.
I'm not an educator. That's for sure. And when you suddenly both have to explain how to divide 53 by 9, conduct a science experiment and do gym homework, at the same time that the 2-year-old pulls you by the pant leg and says "play a little, Mom," then 53 is divided into 9 difficult to explain.
Organization of life
But it's just a matter of getting the day organized! Fortunately, I'm quite fond of organizing! And I have children who love to sleep, and I love getting up early! So I start the day at 6:00. That way, I get at least 1.5 hours to work completely in peace before someone else wakes up. Except for my husband then, but he's on his own?.
We've realised that routinesare important - so after breakfast everyone has to get out of their pajamas and get dressed, before the school day begins for the elder. She youngest beads and draws and plays and messes and watches children's TV, at the same time. Some phone meetings we take in the garden so that she can jump on the trampoline,and in this way everyone is quite happy. Also, she sleeps 2 hours a day. I'll admit it's a very good time right now. In addition, big brother takes over childcare as soon as he finishes his school day.
Good help from the school
The school does a good job of following up during the day and grandpa follows up the math homework by phone (53 divided by 9 is 5.89). Today, skype children's garden was arranged for everyone in the department Gul aged 1-3 years. It took 13 minutes for them to get bored, but they seemed to find it nice to see each other.
I am also lucky and have an employer who facilitates for me. If I find that it becomes too much to work full time, while at the same time having home school and home kindergarten, they move tasks from me to someone else.
Working from home is otherwise not a challenge. We have all the technical solutions we need to make it work, and I'm used to having Skype or Teams meetings with both customers and colleagues. Many of my colleagues work from home as usual, but I must admit that I miss them. On Monday, we had a Skype lunch. It was a nice solution.
But most pleasantly, it will be when the world returns to normal. Whether it's a week or a month or more, I can't wait to lunch with my colleagues. Then there will be 4 Rye sprinkles of yellow cheese and jam at 11:00. Meanwhile, everything goes well on Skype?
Regards Maja
Full stop and circus
Hi! My name is Katrina, I'm married to Christian and together we have two nice boys, William at 4 years old and Philip in 2 years. After many years in Oslo, we moved back to Sandefjord. Here we got more space and closeness to the family, which was very nice with two small and active boys. I find that Sariba is a super flexible employer. They have really adapted for me so that I could continue to be part of the Sariba team, and I am very happy about that!
I normally work from home three days a week, and the other two I commute by train into Oslo. One would therefore think that the transition to a full-time home office would be a simple matter for me, but it turned out that combining full-time work in a home office and home kindergarten is quite demanding! I experienced that everyday life came to an abrupt halt,before it went into full circus and now suddenly my children are new colleagues.
Delivering both at home and at work
I'm committed to delivering, and I want to be 100% present in what I do, whether I'm at work or at home. The new Corona life has really put me to the test and it takes both discipline and structure to make this work. The last few weeks I've been feeling the chaos, but I have to say that it's also going just fine. There is a lot of life and touch in everyday life and my little new colleagues spread a lot of joy.
In addition, I am very lucky to have Sariba as an employer. Sariba was quick to provide both information and guidance. In an cluttered situation, I think this information both calms and contributes, so that we are able to adapt.
A new form of shift work
To make it all go round, Christian and I have divided our workday into two shifts. Children are very fond of routines, so we try to run the same structure every day. There is breakfast, brushing teeth and clothes on before the home garden starts full play both outside and inside. Christian activates the children until twelve, before I take over the shift. That way we get to work 50% each. But even though we have a good plan, it is not always that the children are completely in on who is at work in the home kindergarten when ?. And I also admit that there have been a little more Kinder eggs and a little more iPad than usual.
For me who has two little ones at home, I find that both Sariba and my colleagues go to great lengths to help in the situation we find ourselves in. For those Sariba employees who are now at home with children, Sariba has adapted for each of us, so that the new everyday life will go as painlessly as possible. In addition, I have very nice colleagues who really want to contribute where needed. That is, those who have a little extra capacity take some of the workload, so that we all get delivered as planned. It's very nice!
Good atmosphere in an unusual situation
In addition, I think that all of us at Sariba work together to create a good atmosphere in this unusual situation we find ourselves in. We have had both digital lunch and digital Friday games. We're good at having a coffee on Skype,and all of this helps keep motivation up and communication going. When it works at home, it also works at work. We are very good at teamwork, and together we are able to deliver what we are going to our customers.
We can do this, but everyday life will be good again.
If you need help with anything in these Corona times, you are of course welcome to get in touch.
Regards Katrina