WORK / LIFE : HOME OFFICE
PHOTOGRAPHS BY EVA DONCKERS
The Benelux team is distributed across three countries . How does hybrid work play into that ? Hybrid is key to making this Benelux setup work . In the past , it wouldn ’ t have been possible . I try to be with the employees one or two days per week in the Netherlands , one or two days in Belgium , and I try to visit some customers and partners . If I have time left over , I work at home .
With all that travel , how do you build sustainability into your hybrid work schedule ? Having a lot of meaningful virtual meetings is the key to doing it sustainably . And the Netherlands and Belgium were the first two countries in the world to implement electric vehicles at HP , in 2021 .
What is your home office setup ? I ’ ve got an attic office , far from the rest of the family , so I can talk even at night . I have Poly equipment , so the camera follows me and I ’ m not limited by headsets . And I have different setups and displays at home . One has two screens to do different tasks , as I ’ m creating content and presenting a lot . Then I have another where I can be in my focus zone .
What kind of mental breaks do you take during the day ? I have a treadmill with my laptop , so I can read my email while I ’ m walking . I also have the luxury of living on an old farm with a nice garden , so I can walk there while I ’ m taking phone calls .
How do you balance working at home with family time ? I start very early in the day — typically 5 a . m ., which allows me to do a lot of focused work , and then I take my son to school . Then my day of meetings and collaboration starts .
What keeps you inspired when working remotely ? I have a record player in my home office and I listen to vinyl , but also Spotify . And I have a whiteboard because I like to ideate there .
How do you bond with your team since they ’ re dispersed across the region ? We only became one team recently . It ’ s important to dedicate time to getting to know each other , so I planned one-onones with every member of the Dutch team , who were all new to me . Overall , it ’ s finding that good balance between spending
TOWN / HOME Clockwise from top : Van Beneden takes calls in his garden with Poly Voyager Free 60 + earbuds ; the attic office of his Belgian farmhouse , complete with an HP Z43 4K display , Poly Studio P15 personal video bar , and , not pictured , HP Z24n monitor ; his record player and vinyl collection ; off to visit various Benelux HQs .
time face-to-face and doing functional meetings via Zoom .
Has anything unexpected come out of managing a hybrid team ? What surprised me after COVID was that the first people coming back were the youngsters . They naturally sense the value of going to the office and want to learn from their colleagues . They ’ ve told me , “ We are at work , but we don ’ t see enough other generations there .” So it was a good wake-up call . We need to show up for each other .
— Interview by Sunshine Flint
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