Im Rahmen unserer “New Work Weeks” bei hrdiamonds wollen wir unsere Teammitglieder selbst zu Wort kommen lassen. Daher freuen wir uns ganz besonders, euch heute einen insight into the working model of our consultant Barbara Horak today.

Barbara has taken the time to conduct a short interview with us. She shares her experiences with her primarily home office-based working model, the pros and cons and her best tips and tricks. As a mother, she perceives working from home as a great advantage for balancing work and private life.

Enjoy reading!

hrdiamonds: To start this interview off, can you share a bit about your journey with hrdiamonds and what your current work model looks like?

Barbara: I joined hrdiamonds in 2014 as a trainer and coach and back in that time, my kids were 2 and 6 years old. So, I worked part time (20 hours) at the beginning and I currently work full time, mainly in home office. I come to the office regularly, sometimes once a week. But when I travel for work, it can happen, that I don't see colleagues for weeks. When we finally see each other after such periods, we are all very happy and it always gives me a good feeling.

hrdiamonds: How did your transition into hybrid/remote work and what initially drew you to this idea?

Barbara: I think the entire hybrid and remote work started like for a lot of other people during the pandemic. I live in the 22nd district of Vienna, which is pretty far away from our office, which is located in the first district, and I always spent a significant amount of time a week in traffic jams on the way to and from work. It could even be around 2 or 2.5 hours per day. After the pandemic, when we had seen that things were working so well online, I got the feeling that I do not really want to come back to the office five days a week. So, I talked to my boss, and we discussed that most of my things could be arranged online. Plus, I get the feeling that I can be much more efficient when I'm working from home and integrate work and life better together.

hrdiamonds: How does hrdiamonds support flexibility in remote work arrangements?

Barbara: I'm very happy and lucky that hrdiamonds supports this kind of work models. For example, I never get the feeling that the company puts me under a lot of pressure regarding where I do my work. I can tell that that there is a lot of trust, and they know that I love my job, that I'm very passionate about it. My supervisor told me that she is always happy to see me in the office, but she also understands why I have chosen this way of working. As I'm a lot on the road from September to December and from February till June, I spend a lot of time away from my family. So, when I'm in Vienna, I prefer working mainly from home and, for example, be at home in the afternoon when my kids are coming back from school.

hrdiamonds: What does a typical day look like for you when working remotely?

Barbara: I get up at around 6:15 and prepare breakfast for the entire family. I know they are able to do it for themselves, but it is kind of my way to express my love for them. The house starts to get quiet around 7:30 as everyone leaves and then I go for a run in the Lobau, which is a national park nearby. This time is only for me. While running I check in with myself, what I have to do today, and so on. These 30 minutes are extremely important for me. When I come back, I have breakfast, start checking my first emails and then hop in the shower. Usually, 9:00 o'clock is the time when I start working properly. How I work depends on my calendar and calls. Sometimes I have a lot of MS-Teams meetings and then I sit in front of my computer, and I do my calls. But if I don't have that many scheduled meetings, I often work on a workshop design or an offer.

Usually, I use the Pomodoro technique for working at home. That means that I set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes, during which I really focus on the task and don´t really answer my phone. After this focus time I take a short break where I usually do something around the house, like starting the washing machine, emptying the dishwasher, and so on. And then I go back and I do my next task. The afternoon is pretty much the same, either calls or creative work until my younger son arrives back home around 4:00 o'clock. Then the real coaching work starts: motivating my teenager to study and do his homework. This usually takes around 2 hours until 6:00 o'clock. When my husband arrives back home, and I still have something to do than I have a good one-hour window to do that until dinner. And then my working day is over.

hrdiamonds: Now we're going to dive a little more into benefits and challenges of remote work. What do you feel are some of the benefits of your current work model?

Barbara: First of all, I love the fact that I'm not sitting in traffic jams. I save around 2 hours a day and within these two hours I can be there for my family, or do something important for the company. So, this is definitely a huge, huge benefit. Plus, it is much easier to arrange doctor's appointments, for example, for myself or for my kids. I can also embed works around the house throughout my day which means that it doesn´t pile up for the weekends or the evening when I'm tired. Additionally, I can do online meetings anytime without needing to book a room. And finally, I feel that I can work undisturbed and concentrated when I need to without feeling like I am super antisocial if I'm not answering coworkers questions, etc.

hrdiamonds: What are some challenges you´re facing?

Barbara: The challenge is, that it can feel lonely sometimes. Especially when you face challenges like a letdown, where you really kind of just need a hug. Sometimes it can be hard to push myself through difficult times. And I know that I can call my colleagues anytime, so it's not a huge problem. But still, if you´re already in the office, it's just a step away and you find somebody to pour your heart out to.

hrdiamonds: Can you share any tips or strategies you've found effective for managing time and staying focused in a remote environment? E.g. do you have any tips on how to NOT start doing the dishes or cleaning the room, when working from home?

Barbara: Haha, well, you got me there. I'm a little “Monk”, so I really need a tidy home and basic order around me, otherwise I cannot focus. So, what I do is, I make sure that I work where I can work well, where things are not disturbing me.

Also, I already mentioned the Pomodoro method, that works very well for me. With the regular breaks I kind of refresh myself and my attention, to make sure I'm not misusing my energy. I'm also a big fan of to do lists. For example, I have an improvised Kanban board at home above my computer made out of nice colorful sticky notes.

Additionally, as I mentioned above, when I'm running in the morning, in my mind I go through my to do´s of the day and prioritize what the most important tasks are, the ones I will definitely do today, no matter what.

I also dedicate different areas at home for different activities. For example, when I need to work focused, I'm usually sitting at my desk or at the dining table. And if I need to be creative, I go to the couch or into the garden. They different areas put me in different mindsets, as I sit a little bit in another way and the environment is different too.

hrdiamonds: Are there any specific routines or rituals you follow to help separate work time from personal time?

Barbara: Oh, I'm very bad at this. If you would ask my husband, he would tell you that too. As I support my son with studying when he comes home around 4:00 o´clock, I usually loose around 1.5 to 2 hours in the afternoon, which is why I´m doing some extra time in the evening. But I really need to push myself to implement something that gives me the feeling of accomplishment and being done for the day to transition into my off time. I kind of play with the idea of doing yoga, but so far, I haven´t implemented it yet. But what I do as of last year, is that I completely switch my laptop off, instead of leaving it in sleep mode and it helps a lot.

hrdiamonds: How has remote work affected your relationships with your family? Have you noticed any differences?

Barbara: Yes, with my family for sure, I am less stressed during the afternoon. Usually, I was this kind of running from work to home during the rush hour. It is a terrible experience when you´re stuck in a traffic jam and you know your son is already in front of the school waiting, yet you´re nowhere nearby. Of course, my kids were younger too back then. But now, I'm more relaxed when they come home. I´m not in a rush and I'm physically there, even if I cannot immediately talk to them when I'm in a call or doing something. And they know that mom is home when they get home.

hrdiamonds: How has remote work impacted your professional growth and development?

Barbara: I think I manage to switch between private and business more fluidly - but maybe my family would say something different. In the past it was more rigid like “Now I´m working – now I´m not”. And today I can be more flexible about that.

Also, using online tools and collaboration platforms was a huge learning for me. For example, I fell in love with Miro, and it is still ongoing. Until the pandemic, MS Teams and similar platforms didn't make any sense to me to be very honest. And now I'm using it extensively, not only within the team, but also with clients. So that was definitely part of my professional growth to use these tools.

hrdiamonds: Why is it still important for you to come to the hrdiamonds office at times?

Barbara: Oh, to have my colleagues around, to play with our office dogs and people seem to be happy to see me, which is a good feeling. And you know all the little big things, like having a coffee with a colleague, going out for lunch or on a walk together, and so on.

Also, we have a huge and wonderful office library and I'm always interested and excited to see what new books we have purchased recently. We also have a white board in the office with the latest great ideas, best experiences, best practices, etc. on it. It's really nice to go through it and look what kind of fresh ideas colleagues collected recently. It´s always a great inspiration. A lot of good energy comes from our office, and it's worthwhile every minute in the traffic.