Translated from 日本語 • View original Hello, this is Takai, who oversees the entire administrative department at Colorkrew, as well as legal affairs and labor-related tasks such as legal affairs. I just wrote a blog a few years ago, and it's been a long time since I've written a blog. The theme of this time is about the hybrid life I have been living for the past three years.
I am currently living a hybrid life in Chiba Prefecture, where I have lived for a long time as a member of society, and Gifu Prefecture, where my parents' home is located. My parents' family has been a rice farmer for generations, and I work on the farm on holidays, dig bamboo shoots in the back mountain in the spring, and most recently harvest plums from the plum trees in the garden to make plum syrup and pickled plums. Participating in neighborhood association activities, which I had never experienced in city life, was also something I experienced when I returned to my parents' home.
In this article, I would like to tell you what led me to live a hybrid life and what I felt through this way of working.
What led you to live a hybrid life?
The reason why I decided to live a dual life in the countryside and the city was that my father passed away three years ago and I faced the care of my mother. For a while after my father passed away, my mother lived alone. I was supporting my life by going home more often, but due to the decline in cognitive function and motor skills, I consulted with my younger brother and sister and decided to share my mother's care. I decided to live with my mother for about half of the month.
Just when I started living like that, the corona infection spread. Since remote work has been recommended as a company policy, it will eventually boost hybrid life. During this period, non-essential and non-urgent travel outside the prefecture was restricted, but while taking measures against infectious diseases, I traveled back and forth between the Tokyo metropolitan area and my parents' home. This is what I was most concerned about more than usual.
I have lived such a life for about two and a half years, but unfortunately my mother passed away in January of this year. There were many things in my life with my mother for two and a half years, and I had a lot to think about. Looking back now, I strongly remember that this experience of caring for my mother was a very precious time.
Practicing Hybrid Living
As I mentioned earlier, the company's shift to "hybrid work" between real and remote work has boosted my "hybrid life" between rural and urban areas. Now, I would like to think about what I am glad I actually experienced and what I struggled with (challenges).
Good things
You can stay at home, so it's easy to handle nursing care.
We were able to transition to remote work without any problems because we had systems and tools in place that allowed us to work remotely. Online meetings have become common for meetings and meetings with external business partners, and there has been no hindrance in business execution. In fact, in a survey conducted in-house, there were few opinions that felt that using online meetings was a problem with business communication.
Having two bases can change your mood When you get stuck in a job or feel that nursing care is hard or tight, you can change your mood by putting yourself in a completely different environment. In particular, my parents' house is surrounded by mountains and rice fields, so it feels good to take a walk.
What I struggled with (assignment)
When you need to respond, you can't go to the company right away: Because I can't go to the company right away, I sometimes have to ask a team member to do something that the company needs to respond to. I am grateful to the members and sorry for putting a burden on them.
Loss of naturally occurring communication opportunities There is less "small talk" and "Come to think of it, what happened to that" that naturally occurred when coming to the company. I feel that it is becoming more difficult to build the sense of trust that is fostered by meeting every day and talking about small things.
Hybrid work was a very good way of working for me in terms of balancing work and nursing care. I am grateful that I was able to work in this way thanks to the understanding of my family (younger brother and sister) and the company and others.
What is Colorkerw's way of working?
What should be the "way of working" in the future?
This is a topic that various companies are worried about these days. In particular, regarding "where to work", some companies say "come to the office in principle" and some companies say "remote work in principle", and the company's philosophy and strategy are strong. In the first place, many companies are unable to work remotely due to work reasons.
So, what kind of work style does Colorkrew aim for?
Colorkrew moved from its traditional office to a significantly reduced space office in August of this year. This means further promoting "hybrid work" that balances real and remote work. Under such circumstances, how will we achieve business growth? For example, it is known that new business ideas are born from the occurrence of "accidental" communication. We take on a big challenge on how to create and activate such "accidental" communication. We will search for what kind of work style is best for us.