What is your company’s telework experience?

Vince Bagli
Merritt Properties  

 “Our company takes a great deal of pride in having regular face-to-face interaction with customers and each other, because we value personal contact and believe it is the key to getting things accomplished. But, like every other business operation, we needed to quickly pivot and adjust, which resulted in the use of video-conference tools to keep important conversations flowing. We are spending a considerable amount of time talking to our customers and that has been a good thing.”

Joanna Trela
Executive Director
Rosenberg Martin Greenberg

“I felt a tremendous amount of responsibility on my shoulders to adequately prepare the firm to deal with a potential office shutdown, and we quickly pivoted to operating 100% remotely. Among the keys to our success have been stressing constant and open lines of communication and demonstrating to our employees that their health and safety is our number one priority. Further, we reiterate that if we all work hard and collaboratively, we will get through this together. We believe Rosenberg Martin Greenberg will emerge as a closer and more highly-productive firm, as our employees are motivated, engaged and working more efficiently than ever. Each Friday, we host a virtual social interaction gathering online to share our successes and to share our personal spaces. This brings a connectedness to everyone’s remote environment.”

Christopher Pfaeffle
Director | Architecture
Morris & Ritchie Associates

“Our leadership understands the power of technology to support our team and keep our company operating at peak efficiency. I believe the systems we have implemented will change the way we work forever, as it is now easier to work remotely and track multiple projects in a more thorough way, especially with a large number of people involved. MRA’s City Studio has a flexible work philosophy to address the needs of working parents, so this new normal does not stray far from existing practices. From an office design standpoint, In the future, I would believe working habits and mechanical systems requirements will change, perhaps before companies provide staff square footage in their workspaces.”

Joe Meiburger, PE
Vice President/Office Manager
ECS Mid-Atlantic

“With the construction industry remaining an essential industry in Maryland, our offices have remained open to provide necessary services so contractors can operate in a safe manner. It was not practical to operate our labs remotely, but we have asked our employees to be prudent and efficient with their time in the office and in the labs to conduct their testing operations, while most of our professional staff are performing technical and administration functions from home. For those coming to work, we have taken precautions to sanitize all work areas and are remaining vigilant in this area. Most of our meetings are now through videoconferencing and we continue to adapt to keep construction projects moving throughout the state.”

Jeffrey Rosen
Co-Managing Partner
Rosen, Sapperstein & Friedlander

“RS&F implemented a virtual work environment years ago, so we were already 98% prepared for our team to telework productively. We proactively connected with our employees and clients using the latest technologies to explain next steps as far as internal communications and working with our firm.  A big lesson learned is for companies to plan ahead, should similar situations emerge in the future, and have cash reserves as well as an active line of credit on hand to meet payroll and pay bills.  Relationships with our clients have taken on increased importance during this crisis and we are doubling down on our ability to partner with and help guide them through this crisis. This is the time to act decisively to save jobs and retain businesses.”