Last summer, I started a new job as Senior Director of Cyber GRC for GCI Communications, an Alaska-based telecommunications company. Being a resident of central Washington State, this was to be a mostly WFH job with occasional (monthly-ish) travel to Anchorage and elsewhere to meet with GCI personnel and others.
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown was in full swing when I was hired, and non-essential business travel was prohibited. So our days were consumed with video meetings on Teams and Zoom. I met and managed my team of 13 managers, analysts, and specialists, worked with my director, senior director, and VP peers, and was accustomed to full days of video conversations and a bit of time to do real work. And over the past year, I hired five additional team members (including two managers) via video calls. WFH and remote work was the only way.
This week, I met my security department leadership peers in person for the first time, the director of security architecture and planning, and the senior director of security operations. None of us had met in person before, ever. Later, our CISO joined us (our CISO had not met the secops leader in person either).
We spent two long days understanding each others’ departments better, and we spent a lot of time doing some strategic planning. We had bits of time telling stories, and there was plenty of laughter as well.
Meeting and working face-to-face is definitely better than WFH and Zoom meetings. I always knew it, but after 15 months of hunkering down, finally meeting some of my colleagues face to face was confirmation for me. While the three of us live in three different states, we’ll spend most of our working time on video calls, but occasional in-person work is valuable and strengthens and improves work relationships.
I’m certain that thousands of you are having the same experience – as business travel and office work slowly return, you’re meeting many of your colleagues in person for the first time. Relish it.
Peter H. Gregory 