Businesses across the world have had to change their processes, strategies, and methods in order to adjust to remote work. For many, this introduces challenges in the ways we communicate. At LEA we have tried to see these challenges as opportunities that give us the chance to create new traditions and evolve old ones.
Like many of the groups at LEA, our Civil team has been quick to develop new ways of working and creative ways of staying connected. Every week the team sets time aside for a "Virtual Lunch" to gather, lift each other’s spirits, and make up for the lack of social interaction while working at home. The team centres their conversations around topics such as working from home tips, positive stories and news, and photo sharing of workspaces. They have even integrated some fun games like “Guess that LEA Baby” to help bring some positivity to everyone’s week.
Keeping their training initiatives on track
Despite switching to a work from home environment, the Civil team is ensuring that their existing training and development program moves forward uninterrupted by transitioning to internally led virtual training. The training is led by Civil team member Elena Ramirez, who shortly after joining the company recognized an opportunity to share her knowledge and previous teaching experience in Civil 3D with her teammates. With the help of fellow LEA engineer Fatima Niroomand, the two planned and began hosting a training program for their team.
“Using a combination of example scenarios and real-life implications, participants get hands-on experience and feedback in real-time to maximize the efficiency of the training sessions. Training in Civil 3D is not only ensuring that the team is versed in the latest trends and standards, it is streamlining processes and creating output that is organized and exceeds client expectations, ultimately benefitting the entire project.”
– Elena Ramirez on teaching Civil 3D
The trainees have nothing but great things to say about the sessions. “Elena and Fatima put a great deal of time and effort to organize these sessions and ensure that they run smoothly. Elena organizes the material in such a way that everyone can follow and each topic builds on the previous sessions. She also uses our projects as examples, allowing us to relate the topic we learned to the projects we are working on and come up with more efficient ways of doing things in the future,” shares Project Designer, Golnaz Saremi on her experience.
Elena and Fatima have not let the past period of change and remote work stop them from continuing these training sessions, hosting their first virtual session in early April. “Our goal is to keep the training moving forward and provide our team with continuity in learning. This is a special project to the both of us and we are both committed to hosting virtual sessions to ensure our team is getting the training they need,” Fatima shares.
Together, Elena and Fatima have been able to demonstrate what it means to work together, support their team, and quickly adapt to changes in our environment.