How are you all keeping up?

Vibeke Vindahl Hermann, Administrative Officer, Human Resource Service 

1. What characterises your working life right now? 
   I'm working 100 per cent from home. I may go on campus if I have tasks requiring me to, for example, make printouts. But all my workflows have actually gone digital, so I can perform all aspects of my work from my home office.
   
   
2. What is most challenging and rewarding (if anything) about the way you are working right now? 
   I miss the daily social interaction with my colleagues. Popping in to say good morning and having a chat at the coffee machine. I find it hard not knowing what's going on in the department. All those things that I don't work with every day become increasingly distant to me. 
   On the other hand, not having to commute is great for my home life. I can spend more time with the kids in the morning, and my working hours are more flexible so I can assist with homework and do volunteer work.
   
   
3. What professional and social lessons will you take away from this somewhat different year? 
   Personally, I've learnt how important interacting with my colleagues is for me; that's something I've always taken for granted. I've also learnt that working from home is no problem. It may even have its advantages. And we're very adaptable when we have to be.

Lene Hviid Petersen, Campus Coordinator, SDU Sønderborg

1. What characterises your working life right now?
   I'm primarily working at SDU, because I'm most comfortable working on campus.
   
   
2. What is most challenging and rewarding (if anything) about the way you are working right now?
   I have my own office so I can keep social interaction to a minimum, if necessary, but sensing the hustle and bustle of the corridors does wonders for my mental health. I miss a lot of my colleagues enormously - especially those from other cities, because we don't have face-to-face meetings etc. I never thought I'd miss driving to Odense for a meeting, but I'd really love to be able to meet face-to-face again!
   
   
3. What professional and social lessons will you take away from this somewhat different year?
   The informal Friday afternoon beer and online morning check-ins. I moved to another department on 1 February and these informal meetings have made the transition easier - also because I'm the only employee in SDU Communications in Sønderborg, so I don't really cross paths with colleagues in my department at the coffee machine.

Jens Troelsen, Professor and Head of Research at the Active Living research unit under the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics 

1. What characterises your working life right now?
   My working life is okay. Some days, I work at my desk on campus and others, I work from home. It offers variation and the opportunity to occasionally meet great colleagues. Meetings and teaching activities are impacted the most.
   
   
2. What is most challenging and rewarding (if anything) about the way you are working right now? 
   The absence of social interaction is the most challenging part. It hampers the start-up of collaborative projects, especially with partners you haven't met or interacted with before. This also applies to teaching and guidance activities, because you feel out of touch with the people you're interacting with.
   Working from home is most rewarding when it comes to immersive activities such as reading and writing articles, chapters and applications. We've also seen the emergence of a new form of collegiate spirit where everyone cares for each other and jointly participate in, for example, the Count Steps campaign/SDU Moves.
   
   
3. What professional and social lessons will you take away from this somewhat different year? 
   One takeaway for me is the effective meetings that are made possible by Zoom and Teams. Having a great and well-thought-through agenda enables faster decision making. It also reduces climate impact with fewer trips to other cities. When properly organised and structured, webinars contribute to successful knowledge sharing. Socially, we must keep in mind that great relationships are critical and require constant attention, and social activities provide the framework for maintaining a great collaborative environment.

Bilal Bahij, Team Coordinator, SDU IT

1. What characterises your working life right now?
   My closest colleagues and I are primarily working from home. I go to the office once in a while, but that's primarily to add some variation - not because my work requires me to. 
   
   
2. What is most challenging and rewarding (if anything) about the way you are working right now?
   The hardest thing is to stop working at the end of the day, and also it's hard not just to get started right away when I'm ready in the morning. But at the same time, it's also the most rewarding thing about it. Flexibility is great but also requires a lot of discipline for it to work for extended periods of time. 
   
   
3. What professional and social lessons will you take away from this somewhat different year?
   Shorter meetings and preferably virtual meetings. They work really well, and I hope a lot of us will stick to virtual meetings in the future. We've also managed to socialise online. It will, of course, never be the same as crossing paths at the coffee machine or having lunch together. We've had online lunches, which has actually been a success, but it's difficult to include everyone in the conversation.

Linnea Marie Sjøberg, Academic Officer, Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics

1. What characterises your working life right now?
   Most of the time, I'm working at my desk. I'm new here, so it has been important to me to go to my place of work. Many practical issues require me to not be working from home. But in future, it will probably be a mix of working from home and working on campus.
   
   
2. What is most challenging and rewarding (if anything) about the way you are working right now?
   It's hard to start a new job (three weeks ago) when many of my colleagues are working from home. When I'm having a meeting with or calling people for the first time, it does make a difference if we've already met in person once or twice.
   My job involves improving the physical activity level and well-being of employees and students across SDU (the 'SDU Moves' strategy), and the fact that many miss activities that build a sense of community really benefits my work. Among other things, many have signed up for the Count Steps campaign.
   
   
3. What professional and social lessons will you take away from this somewhat different year?
   I've learnt that almost everything and everyone are adaptable. It's kind of a buzzword, but I think that we've been able to transform and rethink a lot of things. But I still do hope that many things will return to the way they were before the coronavirus when we see the end of this pandemic.

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