It’s been over six months since the day I left the office, leaving for Spring Break family vacation and the world falling apart before we returned. While unexpectedly working (and parenting and educating) from home as a family has certainly brought new challenges, I’ve found leading projects and managing a UX team to have been the areas where I have needed to be most intentional about the ways I manage differently in “our new reality.”

This article on how to adapt to the things you didn’t expect when managing remote teams during COVID has some tips I’ve found valuable in my day to day. In particular, as a person who prefers to avoid stepping into unnecessary bear traps I have had to be very purposeful in asking (repeatedly) how people are doing. I’ve found myself being more open in my own struggles (and occasional successes) as well to make the team feel safer opening up.

Not sure how long we’ll be doing this without any choice, but feeling better now than ever that working remotely can be successful for both delivering great work and mentoring great designers.