▶ In spring 2019, most SRK employees would have said remote work is not really a thing in Samsung. However, in spring 2020, the whole SRK is staying home

Following the government's decision to launch a nationwide quarantine, Samsung R&D Institute Ukraine office emptied on March 18 and everyone got to test all their theories about working from home. Is it really a catastrophe for successful teamwork? How much time and energy are saved when communication is out of the picture? Do pillows and blankets help with productivity?

Everyone now has a better idea of how remote work suits their lifestyle and personality.

So how do you adapt when your work-life changes suddenly?

Everyone faced their own challenges. SRK employees organized work locations at their homes together with their families and pets. Team leaders created channels for communication within teams.

The IT department in close cooperation with each team set up the whole remote work infrastructure – all preparations had been done in a week.

All the required infrastructure is available over SVPN and the new processes for obtaining necessary equipment are now in place. Today engineers can get samples, peripherals, and even their favorite chairs delivered at home.

How do Ukrainian employees manage their work-life balance and stay committed and positive during this spring? It has been two months already, and we have collected a lot of feedback and insights from our colleagues.

Some people even shared photos.
 

▶ SRK Staff Engineer Andrii is working in a very busy environment at home but sometimes he can work from the balcony on his own.
Survey feedback from one of SRK employees about the early days of quarantine: "Tracking progress has become harder. Keeping the engineers on the right track became more difficult without regular information sharing. So, we have decided to increase the frequency of status meetings. There is also a possibility to create a meeting on-demand with any member of the team if the situation requires urgent discussion."
 

▶ SRK HR Leader Dmytro has chosen a light and cozy location in his kitchen to feel focused.

Of course, our kitchens still have other uses. Another SRK employee said in the survey: "Now that I am working from home, my food and drinks became healthier than the restaurants and cafes around the office."
 

▶ Looks like Software Engineer Ivan feels comfortable working near the window with lots of light (and no office can provide this computer mouse model!)
 

▶ SRK Designer Oleksandr has amazing quarantine partners and is keeping fit

Another SRK team experience: "The project goes according to plan. Remote work greatly affected performance but in a good way. In some areas, tasks are even ahead of schedule.

Engineers work more at home than at the office, and do not spend time in traffic jams."

SRK Engineer Tetiana has arranged several of the lab's brainstorming meetings in Wormhole. "I thought it would be awkward, but these meetings turned out to be the highlight of my week. I am happy to see that my colleagues are as creative as ever."
 
Several SRK projects have found a way to collect necessary data in a fun way. Our colleagues can participate in the Quarantine Health Campaign, where they need to do and record a workout, or in the Handwriting Genius Challenge, where they have to write words in different languages (in such way in SRK collected data necessary datasets for projects). Not only are these activities fun and healthy, but they also provide material for improving several Samsung products.

Educational events have also moved online. Staff Engineer Nataliia, one of the lecturers in SRK's Dual Education program in artificial intelligence, says she had to get used to explaining the material on her laptop (now she may own the most educated laptop in all of SRK) and emphasizes the importance of student-teacher interaction. "I am very grateful to all the students who turned their mics on, wrote on my shared screen, and asked questions!"
 

▶ Our colleagues may miss us, but our pets are delighted.

The Ukrainian government extended quarantine until June 22 and not ruling out further prolongation. SRK employees remain professional, calm, and more committed than ever before, just from a different location. We can see now that SRK can successfully operate remotely with the appropriate security measures and processes to stay engaged and productive. In these two months, we have learnt a lot about ourselves and our colleagues. Despite the stress and major lifestyle changes, everyone in SRK has found their feet and now we know that teamwork is our superpower even when teams only meet in conference calls. We have tried new ways of collaboration, such as SRK-wide data-gathering challenges and remote festivals and have found them to be a success.