Lessons learned from a year of COVID

Lessons learned from a year of COVID

It seems surreal that in early March 2020, we were moving through life as normal, scheduling client meetings, planning travel, and thinking about a party for our tenth GSID anniversary.  In retrospect, lessons learned from the past year have been both positive and not so positive.  We believe it’s important to be honest about that.  However, we want to share our lessons with you in the hopes that you too can find some things from the past twelve months to carry forward with you.

Lessons learned from a year of COVID (so far)

Like almost everyone else, we did not have “global pandemic” on our bingo cards or vision boards for 2020.  That’s said a little tongue-in-cheek because we believe that a sense of humor helps us get through the tough times, but we are in no way downplaying the toll this has taken.  At the time of this blog post, more than half a million Americans have lost their lives.  Countless small businesses have gone through closures and lean times.  Our children are missing their friends, and so are we.  Celebrations have been postponed or scaled down, and we realize how we took things like hugging friends, going to concerts, or gathering for big holiday dinners for granted.  Despite the mental and emotional struggles, we’ve looked for the silver lining among the clouds.

Three not so positives

1. We absolutely miss the in-person familiarity and camaraderie of having the whole team together in the studio.  All of us look forward to a time where we can have monthly group lunches and quarterly happy hours again.  Sometimes you just want another pair of eyes to look at a materials layout and give an opinion.  Our hybrid model allows for us to still share studio time (with reduced capacity, masking, and distancing, of course) but it’s not the same as the buzz of a busy design studio.
2. We also really, really miss in person events.  Whether they’re hosted in our showroom like our open house and ladies’ night out pop up boutique, or ones we attend elsewhere like Chair Affair and the IDAs, we enjoy mingling, chatting, and making new connections.  A lot of others are also feeling the blahs, and we can’t wait for the chance to get dressed up, grab a glass of champagne, and make new friends at a Scout Guide party or showroom soiree!
3. Travel, specifically to High Point, has been a major loss.  Both High Point Market Authority and our vendors have been phenomenal with virtual support, but nothing beats visiting the showrooms and pop ups every spring and fall.  We love discovering new vendors, meeting with our reps to continue our knowledge of the lines we love, and looking not just at design trends but industry trends.  HPMKT offers seminars, panels, and classes that help us keep abreast of myriad facets in our ever-changing industry.

Three positives

1. Thinking outside the box and creative problem solving is a lesson that a lot of people learned, but for us, adapting quickly to changes was imperative.  We went from an all-hands, in-studio team model to individually working remotely.  Flexibility allowed us to keep moving forward, including a daily Slack channel discussing our top 3 projects, assembling material samples for contactless delivery to clients’ doorsteps, and moving the entire materials library into Glenna’s sunroom.  Our main objective was to deliver the high standards we maintained in person through remote means.  When we couldn’t hold our yearly kickoff meeting and follow up happy hour in person, we took to Zoom.  We modified some of our yearly goals, strategized together, and then toasted each other with cocktails afterwards.
2. Along those lines, we took our existing processes and adapted them for virtual work.  Screensharing became the new in person meeting.  Attention to detail sharpened even more, especially when it came to reviewing drawings, finalizing finishes, and supporting our clients’ goals.  Within the team, our focus turned to supporting each other, pitching in where a hand was needed, and making each other laugh.  It was really easy to feel isolated last spring; we prioritized our connections as both a team and friends.  We all knew, and continue to know, that we could count on each other not just at work but outside of it as well.  Talking about Netflix binges, recommending podcasts, sharing weird or random things spied on daily walks/runs, and bragging about upping our home chef skills (Glenna’s kids perfected guac!) kept us all connected on a real, personal level.
3. One last great lesson learned was that our vendor partnerships and teamwork are better than ever.  We all found ourselves in this sea of uncertainty together.  By working hard on communication, implementing and following safety measures after reopening, and giving each other grace and support, we’ve really strengthened those bonds and know that we’ve got each other’s backs.
   

   Working from home in spring 2020

Ultimately, we see the light at the end of the tunnel and know that a new normal is just around the corner.  By viewing this last year as a pause, we’ll take the good and the bad, and charge forward better and stronger as individuals and as a firm.  We are excited to get the anniversary party planning back on the “to-do” list!  As long as we can celebrate and all be together again, it’s worth waiting for.

 

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Glenna Stone Interior Design is an award-winning Philadelphia interior design firm serving Philadelphia, the Main Line, and surrounding cities. Utilizing her background and training in interior design, architecture, and engineering, Glenna specializes in creating interiors for residential and commercial design settings. We invite you to visit our website, view our portfolio, and catch up on the latest interior design concepts on our blog!