An Outbreak of Optimism
So much of what has happened in the last 6 months has been negative. There is certainly no shortage of material out there covering the declining economy, government failure, the sick and dying, failing small businesses and the list goes on. As a small business owner (and to hang on to a sliver of sanity) I wanted to pivot and talk about the positives over the last 6 months as it pertains to Trampoline.
The transition to #WFH can lead to more familiarity
Working from home has become the norm. Prior to Covid-19, we may have touched on what our home lives were like, our styles, and our likes/dislikes. Now with our virtual morning meeting, we get an actual glimpse into everyone’s home life. Cats lazing in the background dogs on laps, cameos by kids, and updated ‘desk’ locations spark conversation about what’s happening in our everyday lives. Oliver will most likely tune in with a bike or two behind him. Allison has a cool red couch as her backdrop and Alli’s half torso companion was the center of conversation for a few days. We are sharing in each other's lives in ways that we haven’t done before, learning more about where each of us spends the other half of our time, what makes us happy and what makes us crazy (construction during the day).All the time apart, and behind-the-scenes glimpses deserve to be documented, like this Look Behind the Skis piece.
Adapting to Zooms & Teams mtgs with clients
The same can be said for meetings with our clients. On a recent Microsoft Teams meeting, each member was chatting from a different state: Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and New York. Cameo’s by kids and dogs was a common denominator making work conversations feel more like after-work conversations.Meetings with our hospital clients are less clinical when we share a short story about our common love of Maine because someone heard a seagull in the background or we chat about changing a wall color to something brighter before discussing the best way to communicate Covid safety or having a baby during a pandemic.
Happy hours with clients that most likely would never have taken place due to distance can now be done on a more regular basis. We’ve been able to raise a glass to a client who is leaving for a new adventure, launching into our favorite times working together and how grateful we are that we are being taken along for the ride. Happy hours with clients that most likely would never have taken place due to distance can now be done on a more regular basis. We’ve been able to raise a glass to a client who is leaving for a new adventure, launching into our favorite times working together and how grateful we are that we are being taken along for the ride. Trampoline happy hours with staff were pretty common given that we are located within walking distance of several bars and have a kegerator full of Mean Max beer on hand at all times. Our latest virtual happy hour was spent talking about who our doppelgängers and watching as Derek frantically pulled them up and shared his screen with everyone to check out the likeness. We’ve commiserated with our higher ed clients. Those of us with college students sharing stories of what we’ve heard and listened to what’s happening in real-time on college campuses across New York State. Formulating plans on how to best communicate on a budget and in these ever-changing times has helped us forge closer relationships with our clients than ever before.
