COVID19 & WORK FROM HOME

World Health Organization(WHO) declared COVID-19 a Pandemic, the severity of the situation is such that most organizations have decided to let their employees work from home, known as WFH in popular culture has its own pros and cons. From experience, we can say that WFH tests a person’s or organization’s patience and trust in their employees and the integrity of the employees towards their work.

You see, you cannot go to the desk of your colleague when you need something – you need to call the colleague, wait for them to receive the call if they are in a con-call, and after they finally receive your call, you ask them for what you need – here your patience comes to play.

After you have requested the colleague about the work that is needed to be done, you expect that they do their best and get the work done – here  you show your trust in your colleague or employee. Once you trust that the work will be done, you expect the work to be done with utmost care and diligence – this is where the colleague or employee responds to with their integrity.

There are set rules of working from home, some of them are,

1.     Flexible schedule: You can’t start or end your work-day at any time. The schedule should be the same as during regular office days. You should be properly dressed as you dress up for office.

2.     Custom work environment: You can’t work from the comforts of your living room. You have to create a separate workplace free from any disturbance.

3.     Zero commute: No traffic, No cabs.

4.     Homemade hot-lunch: Hot food that is cooked can be had during the lunch time.

5.     More time with your loved ones: Even if you are working, you can’t always sneak in a smile at your mother while you are at it. You may interact with the family once you are on break or after office hours.

You see, provided the above set rules of working from home, does WFH increase or decrease your productivity?

This is a question that we must ponder upon to evaluate ourselves.

WFH has changed the entire dynamics of how we used to work. Office meetings have been replaced by video or tele conferences, daily progress reports are now sent over CRM, Whatsapp or e-mail and the accountability to get the work done is entirely on us.

This has driven many important aspects into our lives – one is the familiarization with various digital tools, self-consciousness & confidence towards delivering results & lastly to build trust with the management.

While, many of us think that work from home gives us the liberty to be lazy, this is not at all true.

Because, while you are working from home, there is no one you can blame your failure on. You are your own manager, you are your reviewer and you are on your own to maintain that work ethic, that your company has trusted you with.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been hard on all organizations. We, at Innovative Concepts, are working from home for 2 weeks now & are enjoying the new normal of work culture.

My organization & myself are in full solidarity with all our channel partners during this global emergency.  We request you all to be at home & stay safe. Follow the guidelines issued by statutory bodies to keep you & your family safe.

We care for you!