Writing from our hotel room in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, I’m grateful for my work colleagues. I’ve just wrapped-up a couple of days of offsite, in-person meetings with two different groups of co-workers and I am truly thankful for the energy, creativity, and joy they bring to each of their positions.
I’ve been working remotely for nearly three years, even before the pandemic. I love the flexibility, freedom, and ability to focus that remote work provides me, punctuated with every day video meetings. But there’s no substitute for meeting with your co-workers in person from time-to-time. Offsite events like the ones we had this week get me revved-up and optimistic about our organization’s future every time, and I love the opportunity to meet with them on a more casual basis.
As the pandemic appears to be waning, the discussion about “coming back to work” is getting stronger. While it doesn’t really affect me because of my remote work situation, I’m very engaged in these discussions. Some of my co-workers who joined within the past two years don’t even know where they’ll be sitting in the office! Some degree of hybrid work is a given, but the details are still unknown. I’m grateful my colleagues are flexible and willing to “go with the flow” as we begin to, again, reshape how we work together.
There’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored. While you’re making the money to travel, remember that your colleagues are family, too.
The World A to Z 