Was he hired in the pandemic? Learn how to relate virtually

Hired in a pandemic, Alexander Czajkowski, 35, started working at VAGAS on his birthday, on April 16th. The entire hiring process had been done remotely because everyone was already at home office – most in São Paulo, where the office is, and he in Florianópolis, where he has lived for some years.

That first day was no different. However, between an online integration meeting and another, they asked him to go to the entrance to his building. There was a person from the VAGAS team, who was quarantined in the capital of Santa Catarina, with a cake and a welcome letter in his hands. Quite a surprise, especially for those who didn’t know anyone from the new company personally. Graduated in design with an MBA in marketing management, Alexander has almost twenty years of career, but he had never been through such a situation.

The same situation was faced recently by front-end engineer Andre Ravazzi, 27, also hired in the pandemic. He started working at VAGAS on May 5, having never set foot in the company’s office. “I received the computer for work and a welcome kit at home,” he says. And, like them, so many other professionals hired during this period of isolation try to integrate with a new team in a totally different way than they were used to.

Hired in a pandemic: nothing is as it used to be

Alexander had left his previous job five months before being hired by VAGAS. During this period, it is no exaggeration to say that the world has practically turned upside down. In his initial conversations with the company, the idea was that he split between face-to-face work in the office and remote work in Florianópolis. With the pandemic, of course, everything changed. “I’ve been working for three months and I haven’t taken my feet off the house,” he says.

Even living in São Paulo, the same happened with Andre, except for the one time he visited the VAGAS office because he had to change his work computer. “I had contact with only one person, keeping my distance, the two of us in masks”, he comments. “I couldn’t even talk.”

Little by little, however, the two professionals are discovering some ways to adapt to this strange situation in order to get closer to their new colleagues – albeit virtually.

Both Andre and Alexander were already used to working remotely. Before being hired by VAGAS, André worked for a startup and went to the office only for alignment meetings. In Florianópolis, Alexander also used to stay in his home office a few days a week. Therefore, the two already had a physical structure set up for the job, which simplified this part of the adaptation.

The trick was to create some connection with people without physically meeting them. Even during the selection process, conducted entirely online, Andre was surprised by the situation. “I went through several interviews, each lasting more than two hours, and doing this by videoconference is much more stressful and tiring,” he says.

Understandable, for sure. After all, even with all the technology at our disposal, it is still much easier to relax and be natural in a conversation when we are face to face with the other person, which is not possible for those who were hired in the pandemic.

How to integrate when you’re hired in the pandemic

If the selection process is already awkward in that way, imagine what it is like to start working at a company without seeing the other team members at the cafe or without being called by the neighbor to come to lunch. “It is difficult to start a conversation without those moments,” confirms Alexander. And Andre agrees: “It’s kind of bad not to meet people in person”.

And the challenge of whoever was hired in the pandemic is not just to integrate to feel part of the group. Much of the work to be done also depends on this closer contact. “Although I don’t have a people management position, I have a project leadership position and I need to connect with several teams,” explains Alexander.

To introduce new hires to people who were already on the team, VAGAS prepared integration meetings with the different teams with which they should interact. “At these meetings, I was introduced to people and they also introduced themselves to me,” he says. “We talked about processes, team routines and also about the projects that were being played at the moment”, he says. “It was very intense days at the beginning,” he recalls.

For André, there were also many meetings, but still something was missing. “The people on my team have known each other for over three years, I just arrived,” says Andre. “There is a lack of social, I miss talking to them outside the company too”, he says.

To overcome this challenge of integration and interaction, Alexander used his experience to create the following strategy:

• he used every beginning of each meeting to break the ice with informal conversations;
• scheduled individual conversations with the people who should interact more with the company;
• structured a list of questions to get to know people better, understand their vision of projects and what they consider to be the main points of attention;
• asked for referrals from other people with whom he could talk to ensure the success of the projects;
• he was asking more about the projects, as he would if he could find the team for a coffee.

These individual conversations were important even so that he could approach more shy people, who normally interact little in meetings with the whole team. “At meetings, extroverts tend to talk more,” he says. When the meeting is virtual, then, the tendency is for this difference to be greater. Extroverts appear, introverts disappear.

How to virtually relate to your new job

Whether you are looking for a job now or have just been hired, we have some suggestions for you to virtually connect with new colleagues for now. Come on them.

1. First of all, listen and observe

Those who are new to the company must first listen to what people say and observe how the relationship between colleagues occurs. Does everyone have an opinion? Does someone conduct the meetings and others just listen? The tip is: watch and try to adapt first.

2. Try to actively participate in virtual meetings

Meetings are good opportunities to show who you are. So try to come up with ideas and give your opinion whenever you think it might be relevant. This, of course, if the company’s culture allows this type of participation. The idea is not just to speak by speaking or trying to appear, but to help people get to know you a little.

3. Enjoy breaks for informal conversations

Taking advantage of the start and breaks of meetings to chat informally is an excellent strategy. Use these moments to get closer to people knowing what they think, what series they watch, what places they miss visiting.

4. Invite people to “virtual cafes”

When you make your first contact with someone who seems more open and friendly, invite them to a “virtual cafe”. The idea is to do virtually what you would do in the company if you were there in person.

5. Ask and ask for more information whenever necessary

It is not because you are working remotely that you cannot speak to someone via corporate chat or e-mail whenever you have questions about the job or need more information. In the old normal, someone would probably accompany you for the first few days to answer questions and help you adapt. The rule is the same, even if the contacts are virtual.

How will the new normal after the pandemic

In the new normal, that is, when face-to-face work happens again in the VAGAS office, Alexander already knows that his routine should not change much. “We no longer consider that I should spend half the time in São Paulo, as we talked about in the initial talks,” he says. The idea is that he remains in his home office, in Florianópolis, and goes to the office only when necessary. “Even with a lot of technology, it is still better to do a dynamic brainstorm in person, for example,” he says.

He believes that companies have understood that it is possible to make quality deliveries in the home office while preserving the quality of life of professionals.

André, on the other hand, expects the new normal to be as similar as possible to the old. It is okay for him to work partially in the home office, as long as there is closer contact with other people in the company. “Everyone talks about a bar near the office, I hope I can go there with them soon,” he says, excited. That’s what we all hope for, Andre. And let it not be long before we are all safe out there again. ?

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