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• Inspiration

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• How to work 16 hours a day and do no overtime

August 25, 2020

Covid-19 closed our office in March but when we returned in June it wasn't only the desks and safety procedures that we had to adapt, the clocks had to change too.

The new normal left us and the team, which includes working mothers and carers now living with family members abroad, requiring a dramatic change to our typical working practices.

It was a shift in company policy on working hours that allowed the team to optimise their own time and make every day pay. And if the ninjas showed one common trait during the first weeks and months of the Covid-19 outbreak it was the ability to make their hours work for them.

Supporting our team, some of whom are now based in Berlin, Manila and Casablanca, Synapse Original turned the idea of clocking in and out into an art-form, re-thinking our processes according to multiple timezones. What we first thought could be a constraint worked to our advantage. We used the hour and a half head-start given by Philippine Time to create plans and agendas ahead of others, while the team in Europe could extend their working hours long into the evening, to finalise reports and keep clients updated almost around-the-clock.

Of course, we now have shorter periods of the day when all our ninjas are active at the same time. This has made us value those precious hours and optimise the way our meetings happen; to dedicate specific time slots for calls and save the rest of the day for deep work.

Instead of being open to business from 9 to 5, Synapse Original is now active from 7am to 11pm and no one is working overtime. We've increased our productivity and we are happy to see our clients benefiting from it. Most importantly, we are still gathering the full team via Zoom for regular company conferences and celebrations, including raising a glass during the all new Shwe Fridays!

#Covid-19 #Inspiration #TeamWork #Zoom