Gympass employees are working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift happened suddenly, leaving little time to prepare for the massive change to our team dynamics.
For our people managers, this brought new challenges in supporting their teams to work effectively from home, while balancing the unique stresses of a global pandemic. Minas Gregoriades, Business Development Manager, says the biggest challenge for his team right now is the change in communication style. “In the office, the team sits amongst each other and is constantly working together. It’s easy to share out a change or update or ask for something in that environment. We’ve had to transition to utilizing tools like Slack and Zoom more, which we used previously but now we rely on them in a whole new way!”
Many teams at Gympass span multiple continents, so digital meetings are nothing new. Without the social environment of an office, these tools can provide a new sense of community during remote work. Joanie Stofanak, Talent Acquisition Director, says her team shifted from having team meetings every other week to twice a week to help each other feel more connected. “I enjoy having our meetings to provide support both personally and professionally. It gives us time to collaborate on projects and share what’s going on in our lives. Although we are all working remotely, we remain very connected throughout the day.”
While technology provides a way to connect with coworkers, it can sometimes come at a cost. Shelly Huang, VP of Marketing, says that with the move to remote work, “it’s easy to blur the difference between work and home life. It’s been hard to avoid some nights and weekends, but when possible, I really encourage people to sign off early and not be glued to Slack.”
One worry for managers is the difficulty to see what’s really going on in employees’ lives through the video lens. “I don’t worry about whether they are delivering/working hard, because my team is super hard working. Rather I think the hardest part is getting a true pulse on how they’re doing from a mental health perspective and whether they are feeling motivated because you only see them during video calls and you can’t pick up on other nonverbal cues.” Huang says.
Though the change was swift and challenging, Gympass leaders rose to the occasion. “I believe we have done a great job building team trust, effective communication, and fostering collaboration,” says Stofanak.
Visit our careers site to explore open positions on our team!