“Is it a Team background or are you working from somewhere else?”, a question I was asked by a client during the month of December, as my background had turned from a barren white wall to a large window with snow falling in the background. I wasn’t sitting in the office or working from home in Lübeck – rather, through the ‘Work from Anywhere’ program I was able to work as a Junior Social Media Consultant from my childhood home in Norway.
My first day at work at Edelman was March 16th, 2020 – infamously known as the first day of the COVID lockdown. At the time I received a knock at the door and a laptop in my hand, and safe to say I, along with most of you too, got accustomed to working virtually. Many have used the virtual work to work from cafés or co-working spaces, but as I had just experienced two cold, grey and wet Christmases in a row (sorry, Germany!), I needed a white Christmas.
Through the ‘Work from Anywhere’ policy I was able to apply for up to 30 days in the financial year to work from, well, anywhere, an opportunity I took to work from home over the holiday season. After a quick conversation with my supervisor and a short formula filled out, the only thing standing between myself and my destination was a three-week waiting period for HR to work out all the details. One e-mail and airline ticket later, and I was on my way home.
The surprised reaction to my new working space clients as I told them about our policy was comparable to my own surprise as I took my first step outside in Norway. It was around 2 degrees as I walked out of gate A39 to my aircraft in Germany, and although I was dressed warmly for the occasion – and felt relatively prepared for the cold – I will admit that minus 16 degrees and 40cm of snow caught me off guard.
After a day of “acclimatizing” (and some hugs and kisses from ma & pa), I quickly got adjusted to the routine. Waking up and getting my work done was no different than what it was before, only now my lunch breaks were a bit whiter, and afterwork activities a bit colder. A couple ski trips and one Norwegian Christmas later, and I was already on my way back to Germany.
I could return to Germany feeling revitalized, refreshed and appreciative of the warmer weather, as it had only snowed once in Lübeck in my absence, but like many of my colleagues, the planning of my next “work from Anywhere” trip has already begun.
