(originally written 9/23/09)
I realized today that it’s been just over 3 months since I began the transition from Minneapolis to New Orleans, that it’s went incredibly quickly, and that both ADV and I have been adapting well. For this installment, I’m just going to reflect a little bit on some of the expected and unexpected things:
- As expected, the technology works really well.In the past, I’ve done plenty of occasional remote access for a day at home here or there, and of course, a lot of remote access to client systems. But I’m still amazed by the overall performance of our DMS across a VPN, web applications, occasional remote desktop / VNC back to the office, and so forth. But most surprising was when I just plugged in a VOIP phone to my router, tied to the same number as in Minneapolis, and it just plain worked. Great stuff. My product plug of the day : OpenVPN. Specifically, OpenVPN Access Server (http://www.openvpn.net/). It’s OpenVPN but manageable and inexpensive. We’ve been using it for years and more than once, we’ve had new and old employees comment on how well our VPN works.One of these days, we’ll get the video conferencing online. I’m looking forward to that!
- As expected, our culture was stressed by the move.ADV works a lot as a team and, while we’ve encouraged people to take advantage of remote access, we’ve had a really strong culture of collaboration at the office. My move to New Orleans obviously creates some stresses on that culture. My first direct experience with that was when everyone assumed our company meeting, which I usually lead, was cancelled because I was in not in Minneapolis! On those first 2 return trips, I also found that I spent a lot of my time in Minneapolis catching up on meetings. I suspect people were holding things for meetings when I returned. That was a surprise but probably shouldn’t have been one. On the last trip, I didn’t notice it as much. It seems to be returning to business as usual now though. Given that it’s only been 3 months and I’m just now up to 75% in New Orleans, I suspect I’ll still see a few unexpected changes. I’m curious how adding our first employee since my move will go.Supporting a remote employee required a culture shift for us. It’s hard enough to bring someone new into the company culture, better not to compound it by also working through the company’s cultural change in support a of a remote worker at the same time. I think it’s been good that someone already inside ADV has been through this first.
- Unexpectedly, I think I’m more productive working at home.I worried that working at home would be full of distractions but so far, no. Overall, I probably spend less time chatting and work more hours on a whole. Oddly, when I first started, I listened to Pandora, MPR, or mp3’s a lot. I find myself doing that less and being more comfortable with the silence. I’m better able to focus on the work at hand and with fewer distractions. Admission: I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that I was the biggest distraction in the office.
- Unexpectedly, I’m more interested in communicating.More often than I’d like to admit, I feel rather overwhelmed by my todo list. Of course, once I actually got going on it and saw some progress, it always looked a lot more manageable. But getting started can sometimes be daunting. So, back at the office, I’d find myself almost dreading the phone ringing and the likelihood that it meant more work or work requiring an immediate action. With more and larger blocks of time to be productive, the todo list is starting to seem more manageable and in turn, I’m not dreading the phone call. Or maybe I’m just a bit lonely.
All in all, it’s off to a nice start. One of these days, I’ll post a few things about the move south (but not to the South since New Orleans is truly its own thing) but for now, I’ll say that the single thing that’s really made this work is the wonderful people we’ve met down here.