Remote Working During COVID

COVID-19 has brought us all some interesting challenges. Out is the old daily routine, replaced with new ways of working and communicating.

Fortunately, for most engineers, we can do much of our work with just a computer. 

One of the biggest challenges is that sometimes we need access to hardware. Having direct access to an ATE system, or other device used to be as easy as walking into a lab. Working remotely has made us come up with other methods.

At S5, we embraced the shift to remote work. We upgraded our VPN system to improve remote connection to hardware at the office. I turns out that a lot of times walking to the lab wasn't necessarily required, it was just convenient.

We have done plenty of work remotely for many years. However, customers often seemed to regard that as second best and still wanted us on site frequently. We have been pleased to see once reluctant customers embracing remote work. We are no longer the "outside team" to employees working on-site; we are just all part of "the team." In an odd way, being distant has brought some of the teams closer.

How have you coped with the challenges during this time? Has it changed your view of work?

Here is a great blog post from NI with some tips for working remotely.