Working From Home: Terry Charleton

Terry Charleton is one of our Global Account Mangers at Expro. Terry’s role involves a lot of traveling and catching up with clients. He often works with our team across the world and is used to a small amount of video and skype calls, but not normally from the comfort of his own home.

Terry has given an insight into his first week of working from home.

When people picture working from home they often think - Pyjamas. What did you expect and what have you found the most surprising?

A routine is important so getting up and dressed every morning gets me into the work mode. For me (so far) I’ve been going down the smart casual route, especially for video calls.

What do you enjoy best/least about WFH?

The 30-second commute to and from my desk is great! I normally car share, so having music or the radio on with no moans from work colleagues about my musical taste is also an added plus!

The bit I like least is the lack of physical contact with clients and colleagues. My normal workdays would usually involve meeting clients and colleagues face to face, so it takes a bit of adjusting to the new normal. 

The temptation to snack is also not great, but I’ve developed some willpower I didn’t know I had!

How have the changes to the working routine affected your role?

I usually travel a lot so working remotely is second nature to me. I’m still contacting clients about opportunities projects, technology etc so that’s the same, except interaction is 100% VC and phone. Interaction with our international regions outside of Europe is basically the same, as that was always phone, skype etc. I always try to be proactive when dealing with regions and product lines so I just need to work a bit harder on this when working remotely.

There can be many distractions in the home, how do you keep motivated and focussed?

A routine works for me, get up at the usual time and starting work more or less usual time. I’ve found setting time for things is good, coffee break/lunch/ exercise breaks are important. It’s easy to sit at your computer all day and this can be counterproductive.

Do you have any funny stories to share?

They say never work with children and animals! The last week I have seen both jumping into folks video conferences, which provides some light relief. Best one, was on a VC with a good client who had an amazon Alexa device on shelf behind them, so I asked it to play some 90’s dance tunes and to my delight it did!

From waking up in the morning to going to bed at night, what does a ‘day in the life’ look like for you during this time?

It’s kind of similar, I’ve been going for my daily exercise late afternoon and then logging back into work later on in the day, which has been working well. Some colleagues have kids at home so they prefer to work later into the evening, but I like to finish at a decent time.

With your workspace in your home, this means a reduced commute! With the extra time, have you or do you plan to take up any new hobbies?

I’ve been doing a podcast with a pal for a couple of months, so I’ve been learning some editing skills for when we get back to doing it live again (currently doing over web). I’ve got back into practising my guitar and finally catching up on some TV shows and movies, Stranger on Netflix is good and so is The Witcher – would highly recommend. I am also a gamer so currently trying to finish “The last of us”; it has only taken me five years to date!

Having completed your first week, is there anything you would change or advice would you give others?

Keep in touch with colleagues, set up a routine, take breaks, stay off the coffee and snacks!