Chasing the Taillights

/in , , , /by

by Julia Chalifoux, Project Manager

The car is leaving whether you are ready or not.

Our experiences shape us in all kinds of ways. I find that the lessons we learn as we evolve as humans take on multiple meanings. After losing my father-in-law this past fall, I began to reflect on my relationship with my own dad and the lessons I learned from him. As a pouty child and sometimes sour teenager, my dad’s lessons weren’t always easy. Still, they instilled in me my abilities to work hard, navigate challenge and practise resilience — abilities I now value very much.

This past year our personal and professional lives have demanded these abilities like no other. And much like dad’s lessons, navigating these hasn’t been easy. Still, trusting the process and knowing the magic of time and perspective, I feel confident that one day we will all look back on this past year with an attitude of gratitude as this will be the year that we shaped our future like no other.

I want to share some lessons learned from my dad as a demonstration of the importance of perspective:

Growing up, my dad and I attended the same high school, the only high school in our small town located in the British Columbia Kootenays. He was a chemistry teacher, and I, his student. And while being 13 and having your dad teach you the periodic table was mildly mortifying (after all, what do you call your dad who is also your teacher?), it did come with its benefits, such as a free ride to school if you were ready on time. That was the household rule: if you were not in the car by the time he was, the car was leaving and you would be left to your own devices to get to school. Most of the time I made it, but there were still many mornings that I was forced to walk.

That household rule taught me a few important lessons:

  1. The importance of being on time.
  2. I was not the centre of the universe.
  3. Often in life the car is leaving whether you are ready or not.

While the first two lessons are obvious, it is the third that has stuck with me the most, as recently the landscape of how, where and what we do for work has changed dramatically.

In short, work has felt a bit like that car in the driveway, peeling out before I have had time to load my backpack and get out the door. I feel like I am chasing the taillights, hoping that my dad will see me waving frantically running behind the car and that he’ll stop. But inevitably the speed of the car overtakes my legs, the taillights fade and I am left to trudge.

While trudging is not the end of the world, it naturally comes with its own set of consequences (see lesson 1 above).

Looking back, I now recognize that those days my dad left me to my own devices to get to school were not meant to be cruel (although I am sure I cursed him at the time); they were simply fuelled by the fact that he had other priorities and responsibilities to fulfill that (gasp!) were more important than me (see lesson 2 above). His job is what put food on our table, and thus him getting to work on time (and therefore keeping his job) was simply more important than ensuring my comfortable transport.

When you are the one left standing in the cold driveway staring at the fading taillights, it is easy to think that the driver is a jerk. But over the years I have come to realize it is not the driver who is a jerk — it just is what it is. The driver is simply doing what they must do to fulfill their responsibilities and move forward.

Growing up, my car ride to school was a means to an end for me (one that I would need to navigate for five years). My dad, however, was driving the road of a lifetime. He was in constant pursuit of an ever‑fading sunset: post-secondary education for his children and retirement.

I remind myself of this lesson these days when sometimes at work I feel like I am back in the driveway chasing the taillights. I remember that not only am I chasing the taillights, but there is also someone else chasing the sunset — or in our case at Reportex, the sunrise.

Further, I remind myself of the importance of being on time and getting in the car. The car (like life) is moving forward whether you are ready or not. Best buckle in and get ready for the ride and sunrise.

Connect Series: Meet Monika Szucs

/in , , , , /by

Monika is the virtual proceedings technician for Reportex. She is responsible for managing and facilitating virtual proceedings for clients and assisting with technical setup and support. We appreciate the tips and help she shares with us all to keep things running smoothly.

Monika is a lifelong learner with a passion for all things digital. She has a digital design and development diploma that has given her knowledge of website development, graphic design, UI/UX, marketing and project management, and she is working her way towards her Bachelor of Business Administration. Additionally, she has obtained her medical office assistant and applied computer information systems certificates.

You seem to be always learning something new or taking more courses. Does the work you do lead the direction you take in your education, or is it the other way around?

When I was younger, I wanted to try many different job opportunities and gain experience in different areas not only to get an understanding of how everything works together but also to figure out what I wanted to focus on. I believe that knowledge is power. It is important to always keep learning even if it is in another area. You never know how the different information you learn can help make your life easier/better in the long run.

Stability is very important to me. Jobs and technologies are consistently changing. In life everything can and will change. This means having a strong foundation is important because no matter what happens, I feel I will be able to take care of my future.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Which of these values resonates most with you and why?

I believe team and equality are the top two values that resonate the most with me. It is important to have a team that can communicate and work on projects together. Once you have a team that is in sync, it makes completing your job a lot easier. Equality is important because I believe everyone has something unique to contribute to a team. Everyone should be given an opportunity no matter who they are. To get the maximum potential from an employee, an organization needs to leverage every individual’s strengths and find ways for them to work with others collaboratively within a team.

We have been discussing wellness on the blog and our internal Slack channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips to share on staying well?

My favourite way to recharge would be to try new places to eat, listen to music and/or walk around outside on a nice sunny day. The best way to allow yourself to use the maximum potential energy throughout the day is to eat healthy, drink lots of water and get 8 to 12 hours of sleep each night. If I really want to boost my energy because I have been overworking, I will try sleeping for 12 hours straight for three to four days in a row.

Monika is an amazing and dedicated member of the team. Her drive to learn and grow helps keep the Reportex engine running.  

(R)evolution: The future of the workplace

/in , , , , , /by

As vaccination numbers grow and case numbers continue to drop across Canada and the United States, the fear of COVID is being replaced with feelings of hope along with a bit of trepidation about what post-pandemic life will bring us. 

Throughout this time we have been fortunate enough to continue to grow our team, despite the ongoing challenges. Growth has been exciting but is fraught with a need for new structures, processes and — most of all — support. Because of this, one new role we knew we needed to fill was that of a dedicated HR specialist. Fortunately, Jenn Goble has stepped up with gusto!  Jenn specializes in change management, organizational structure, business development and expansions. She has integrated quickly and has become a calm, experienced, steadying hand during this tumultuous and transitional time.  

Everyone has had different experiences through the last 15 months, but here’s what Jenn had to say:

“We all need to recognize that we have just been through something extraordinary, and that will not be forgotten any time soon. We must expect that as excited as we are for this to be behind us and to return to normal, there will be a period of adjustment.”

So what exactly can our (and perhaps your) leadership do to help ease employee anxiety?  Open and continuous communications are key. Employers can play an important role in supporting and facilitating this to enhance connection by using software like Slack or Teams, where staff can communicate on a less formal level. Reportex also has a culture club that organizes virtual events for the staff and runs Slack channels that focus on monthly initiatives like plant care, wellness and just plain old fun. We also have a dynamic COVID committee with representatives from all of our divisions who work tirelessly to study and update everyone with the latest news and rulings around COVID safety protocols, keeping us all abreast of changes in protocol and evolving timelines. Their input helped create our current COVID-19 policy.

Reportex has been fortunate in that our business model already included many remote staff, flexible work-from-home options and collaborative work. What we are finding, though, is that the main source of anxiety is about moving into the unknown while maintaining staff and client safety, especially as our clients ramp up their in-person meetings. There have clearly been fundamental shifts to entire industries and business models, including the legal sector, and many law firms have sped up their explorations of virtual and digital technology. This is exciting, and we look forward to providing support in navigating all of these new options through our developing e-solutions. This adjustment to a more virtual world also means that many law firms have taken this opportunity to downsize their offices.

The Vancouver Economic Commission found that 43 percent of workers in metro Vancouver can and are now doing their jobs from home. While many articles online are discussing what the return to work will look like, some possible considerations for employers are whether to offer working from home as an ongoing option or whether to allow employees to split their time between home and the office, while having a plan in place to keep those employees engaged and actively participating in the workplace. 

In an interview with HRD magazine, Diana Nguyen, HR specialist and coordinator with Telus Employer Solutions, told them that “leaders need to keep teams informed of changes. This helps them better cope with any feelings of uncertainty. From here, it’s essential that you engage team members and listen to their feedback, in order to understand what’s important to them.”

Employers can also encourage employees who have questions or concerns to contact their human resource department or make sure they have an adequate employee assistance program through their benefits provider. 

As we prepare for all of this, we are giving profound consideration of what has worked effectively as well as envisioning even more new practices to support the brave new world ahead of us. We see this as a collaborative effort between our teams, leadership, clients and community to expand our collective vision of the industry as a whole.

We will continue to share our experiences as we evolve and adapt to both our needs as a business and our clients’ needs too.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how your teams will adapt to returning to the workplace!

Uncharted Waters: A COVID Update

/in , , , , , , /by

Like everyone, we at Reportex are cautiously optimistic about the restart plan announcements on May 25. This new plan paves a way for a loosening of restrictions for both personal and work life. With that said, for the sake of our staff and clients we will still be following strict safety protocols when you visit our offices.

As per the guidelines, employers are required to continue operating under their COVID-19 safety plans, but there is a plan for a gradual loosening of restrictions. At Reportex this means the following:

  • We must ensure that all staff and clients maintain an appropriate physical distance, and extra care should be taken in small office spaces, meeting rooms and break rooms.
  • Masks will still be worn in all indoor areas unless there is a plexiglass barrier in place.
  • A daily health check is included in our COVID-19 protocol; clients and staff should check in with reception before proceeding to their boardroom or office.
  • Proper handwashing and sanitizing will be adhered to at all times, and regular touchpoints will be cleaned frequently.

You can review our full protocols here.

According to Dr. Henry and the BCCDC, after June 15 more restrictions will be lifted, but the government advises a controlled and gradual return to the workplace plan, so only small, in-person meetings will be allowed. For the moment this means that Reportex will still limit in-person meetings to six people, including the court reporter. It also means that access to available meeting space will be limited, and meeting spaces will be sanitized by our staff after each use.

sun shining through clouds

This has been a time of upheaval and change for all of us. Let’s not forget to reflect on all that we have learned about ourselves and what we have accomplished over the past year. It has been a time of reflection and transformation. We have learned a lot of valuable lessons over the past year about ourselves and about how we manage in adversity and difficulty. We have seen amazing acts of selflessness and compassion from all around the world, but we have also seen the ugly and the frightening, and we hope that from this COVID cloud we will embrace the silver linings that the eased restrictions bring us as we move forward in our battle against the virus.

As we all move ahead in our plans for reopening workplaces as well as recreational spaces, we need to make sure we only take the good we have learned into the new normal. We want a better future for us all, not just the same old, same old. 

Are your employees thriving working from home? Do you feel a more digital approach is expanding your opportunities beyond the bricks and mortar of your office address? This is a chance for us all to re‑evaluate what is important to us in our homes and our workplaces. In the meantime wear your mask and keep your distance.

One of the biggest silver linings for us has been the opportunity to dig into the personal and professional growth of our team. As you know, we have been focusing on evolving our office space and developing our services and solutions for our clients. We have also been working with our executive coach, Mary Crayston, who has been guiding us through the challenges and successes of continued development. This work has allowed us to prepare for the future of both our business and the industry as a whole, and we couldn’t be more excited to step into it.