Remote Working on the Go

Dan here - greetings from Albuquerque, New Mexico!

Quite a few people have asked me what it's like working remotely while we're on the road. The short answer is: About the same! But let me elaborate.

First, to clarify I do NOT work on the days while we are driving from one destination to the next. That would be a lot to ask, even if Corinne and I were in one car together. I take PTO for those travel days, but once we arrive it's back to work for me.

I have most of the same setup that I had in my Grand Rapids home office. That includes:

• My work laptop and charger.
• A separate 27" monitor for me to use as a second monitor.
• A separate mouse (it's almost impossible to do engineering work with a trackpad. Also, it's a vertical mouse - I don't think I'll ever go back to using a normal "horizontal" one! So much easier on my hand!)
• A separate keyboard.
• A headset.
• My portable stereo, which is basically a nice speaker.

I also have my desktop box and a second vertical mouse, which I use for work on occasion (sometimes I need to make renderings of our products, which is too resource-intensive for my laptop to handle). I use my desktop for gaming and other "fun" stuff outside of work, so it was an easy decision to bring it despite having to transport the box and extra cables. The monitor, keyboard, and stereo can each be used with both my laptop and desktop - simply by switching the input. I could do the same with the mouse, but I have found that physically switching out the mice at the end of my work day helps me feel like I "checked out" of work. Think of it like my evening commute!

The only other things I need are a table/desk to put everything on, and a chair - which each Airbnb/etc. has had. I will say that I miss my sit-to-stand desk and Herman Miller office chair a bit - just for ergonomic/comfort reasons - but that's about the only part of my home office setup that isn't with me. I guess the other important thing is decent WiFi, which all of the places have had for the most part. That's really it from a logistical standpoint.

My current setup here in Albuquerque (the stereo box doubles as a riser for my laptop to help with ergonomics).

I'll also take this opportunity to share a few thoughts about remote work in general, which I know may still be an alien concept. Earlier in my career, I worked on-site at Herman Miller (now MillerKnoll) in Zeeland/Holland Michigan. Even though my dad had worked remotely doing similar engineering work for over a decade, it never really occurred to me that I might be able to do the same - until COVID hit. During those first months of the pandemic, Herman Miller changed their policies to require employees who could work from home to do so. My role at the time involved some work that had to be on-site, such as taking measurements of existing machine components. That said, I was able to work from home approximately 2-3 days each week. Those days opened my eyes to how effective I could be working at home - and how much more I could enjoy my day-to-day life at the same time. My commute to Herman Miller was approximately 30 minutes by car each way - so I was saving an entire hour of my day each time I did not drive to work, not to mention the miles on my car.

As the calendar ticked into 2021 and then 2022, fewer and fewer of my Herman Miller coworkers were still taking advantage of the opportunity to work from home. They just preferred being in the office and getting "back to normal", like the way things were before COVID hit. I felt something of a rift growing beneath the surface between my team and I, as I still wanted to work from home when possible (both to stay as isolated as possible from COVID, and because I just preferred it). The corporate-wide policy eventually shifted to allow individual teams to make their own policies about working remotely vs. on-site, and I knew the writing was on the wall. Finally, one day in early 2022 the mandate came down from my manager - I had to be on-site every day again.

He did not know at the time that it was already too late. I had anticipated that move and had already been looking for new jobs - both internally and externally. Within a few weeks of his mandate, I landed an offer (for my current role at Luke Lamp Co.) and gave my two-week notice at Herman Miller. The allure of working remotely 100% of the time was not the only factor that pushed me to change jobs, but it was certainly a major one. I cannot fault my manager or other Herman Miller coworkers for wanting to turn back to 100% on-site work - and I miss working with many of them - but I had seen (what was for me) a better way of living, and could not go back.

Working remotely at Luke Lamp Co. has a completely different feel than working remotely for Herman Miller did - and it's an even better fit for me. For those who don't know, Luke Lamp Co. is a small luxury lighting company based near New York City. We have about a dozen team members - of which there is a roughly even split between on-site, hybrid, and fully remote like me. I have only traveled to Luke Lamp Co. to be on site twice (for a week each time) in the 3.5 years I have worked there. There are some newer team members who I have never shaken hands with in the flesh. Yet, I feel just as close (if not closer) to my Luke Lamp Co. coworkers than I did with the majority of my Herman Miller ones. That's possible because there is intentional focus on making the company "work" for both on-site and remote employees. Instead of handwritten project notes, there are online notes in one of our cloud-based systems. Instead of printed out engineering drawings, there are PDFs. I see at least one or two of my coworker's faces on Zoom more days than not, and every Wednesday we have an hourlong meeting with the entire team - which is often entirely given over to an online game or other team-building activity.

I want to acknowledge that working remotely is not for everyone. Some people may need the on-site environment to reach peak productivity, due to distractions or other issues at home. Others are required to work on-site - including countless restaurant workers, National Park staff, auto mechanics, and so on who have had a positive impact on Corinne and I personally during our travels. I have the privilege of working 100% remotely, while even within Luke Lamp Co. others must go on site regularly - to fabricate and assemble our fixtures, staff our showroom, and more. That said, I generally believe that many people who are not currently able to work remotely due to company policies are perfectly capable of doing their jobs just as effectively outside of an office - and would benefit from it. The key to enabling effective mixed teams (on-site vs. hybrid vs. remote) seems to simply be for everyone to buy into and support the idea that those teams can work effectively each day - from upper management on down.

I think I've said enough for now! We'll be back soon with highlights of our time here in Albuquerque. We still have almost a month to go here!

Cheers,

- Dan