Meeting-free lunch hours and open mic sessions: SBG CEO on a year of working from home

Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) CEO Steve Birch has revealed the highs and lows of a full year spent working from home in a personal blog post on LinkedIn. Birch was appointed CEO in September 2020 after more than 13 years with the operator but has only ever held the position while managing the company on a remote basis. Previously, he was MD of Sky Bet UK and spent most of his time in the bookmaker’s Leeds office. After a year of remote working, Birch took to LinkedIn to discuss some of the challenges he has faced while leading SBG and its employees through an uncertain and unusual operating period. Birch revealed the biggest challenge he has faced is tiredness and the accompanying fatigue brought on by working 100% remotely as it relies on staring at a computer screen all day. “To try and combat that, I’ve started having 25-minute catch-ups instead of 30 and doing some meetings as old-fashioned phone calls, rather than on Zoom just to break things up,” wrote Birch. On a non-individual basis, SBG has trialled a company-wide lunch hour where no meetings are scheduled during that period, allowing employees to relax during a genuine break from work. Continuing the theme of wellbeing, Birch said ending the working day at a sensible time had also proved difficult as there is no obvious separation between work and home without a commute. “One of my biggest challenges has been ending the day: I don’t think it matters what level of responsibility you have, everyone faces this,” wrote Birch. “We’ve lost routine and driving or walking was our time to either prepare for or wind down from work. However, there is now a blurred line between the day starting and ending. “I never appreciated how the drive home helped end the working day before,” he added. Companies have become increasingly dependent on networking tech including Zoom, Slack and Teams during lockdown. Birch believes this reliance on scheduled meetings over impromptu catch-ups means bosses can miss out on understanding how people truly feel as there is time to prepare. “Conversations have become focused on day-to-day work rather than meaningful chats,” wrote Birch. “Quick chats on the way to a meeting or in the kitchen while making a coffee often sparked an idea or thought to follow up on, and there is no doubt that losing these will have reduced our innovation.” Finally, Birch suggests digital communication is an entirely different ball game to in-person communication as the tone of written messages can easily be misinterpreted. He said: “I think it’s more difficult to get the tone right when you’re writing an email, and once that message has been delivered you don’t receive the real-time feedback you would if you were in the office.” To address this, Birch and his senior team have weekly ‘open mic’ sessions, where they have 45 minutes to discuss anything, which he believes helps solve problems and keep everyone happy. Birch concluded: “Previously we have never articulated or talked as openly about employee wellbeing, but it’s now firmly here to stay.” To read the full blog post, click here. SBG has committed to promoting a working from home-style environment at its new 136,000 sq ft headquarters in Leeds, which is scheduled to be completed in May.