WORKPLACE & EMPLOYMENT LAW
HEN JAMIE VON SOSSAN BECAME CEO OF 3FOLD COMMUNICATIONS
IN DECEMBER 2019 , SHE COULDN ’ T HAVE KNOWN SHE ’ D
BE STEERING THE COMPANY THROUGH AN UNPRECEDENTED GLOBAL EMERGENCY .
Earlier that year as director of operations , she ’ d spent months having the company ’ s headquarters at 21st and K in Midtown Sacramento redesigned and repainted . But her 25-person team had only a few months to enjoy the new look before the statewide shutdown sent them home to work .
Von Sossan herself had children ages 7 and 9 home from school , so in the following months she ’ d often go to the office to work by herself . At times it was all too much : There were many days she ’ d cry at her desk . “ It ’ s a cold , dark , gray building , and it ’ s usually so bright and full of life and creativity and energy , and all of the clients coming in and out ,” she says .
Still , with no end to the shutdown in sight , she made plans to keep the company productive at a distance . In July 2020 , she hired a vice president of operations to set up client relations software that would let the team better manage workflow remotely . It would take six months and didn ’ t bring in money on its own , so it was a tough investment decision at a time companies like hers were closing everywhere .
And in fall 2020 Von Sossan surveyed her staff to ask how they ’ d be most effective going forward : working fully remotely , in person or some combination . Some wanted to be at home most of the time , another group wanted to be mostly at the office and a third wanted a mix . But everyone needed a central office they could come to for meetings or when home wasn ’ t conducive to work .
So 3fold radically downsized , subletting the 6,000-square-foot 21st and K Street office and moving to a 400-square-foot layout at Spaces R Street , a coworking center where they have eight workstations — a big cost savings . Today when 3fold teams need to brainstorm , they meet there . Von Sossan keeps everyone connected through regular events , such as an outing to a River Cats game last September . So far it ’ s working . “ We ’ ve never been more creative , more productive ,” Von Sossan says . “ Deadlines are met . Everything ’ s getting done . Honestly , operationally there are no challenges .” Even when the pandemic ends , many Capital Region workers won ’ t go back to five days a week at a cubicle . In a July – August 2021 survey by nonprofit regional civic organization Valley Vision , more than three-quarters of employers from six Capital Region counties who responded said they expected to have their workforces on a hybrid schedule — employees working partially off-site — 12 to 24 months from then . In the new world , how supervisors work with their remote teams will be essential to business success , management experts and employers say .
38 comstocksmag . com | January 2022