5 reasons why Work From Home is Hurting You & 2 reasons why it isn’t!

The work from home revolution is here and even the staunchest of critics can no longer deny its relevance in the current world. 

But with all its perks, are the perils that are starting to emerge worth the change?  

Here is what I have learnt - based on the last 90 days of research, surveys, virtual group discussions, and countless hours of caffeine-fuelled tirades, spanning 5 cities and over 450+ participants.  

5 proven reasons why WFH is hurting you! 

1. A decline in sustainable productivity.  

Let’s be honest.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have additional space for a home office.  

In a recent survey conducted by a leading property consultancy, this very claim was proven to be true, as 98.6% of the audience marked themselves as having no dedicated home office setup. The majority of them voted their dining tables, couches, recliners and even stools as their primary makeshift workspace.  

And while it served the purpose for the first month or so, it became evident to all that such setups are not suitable for the usual working hours, stretching any longer than 45 days.  

Companies that were efficiently tracking productivity, started noticing a decline in overall employee engagement after the initial high.  

This was attributed to distractions stemming from cultural, health & functional challenges, not limited to joint families, children, backaches & household chores. 

2. Cybersecurity is a very real concern. 

There are no two ways about it. 

All data is precious, and most organizations have petabytes (1 PB = 1000 TB) of them, which in the wrong hands could mean losing a client at best or going bankrupt at worst.  

In 2019 alone, data breaches have cost companies over $2 Trillion – that’s Trillion with a capital “T”!  

And now with more people working from home than ever before, spotty firewalls, outdated antiviruses, shared networks and unpredictable online behaviour have created the perfect petri dish for a massive ransomware attack to ensue.  

3. Mental health is often neglected.

In the chaos of moving to a strictly work from home schedule, most people could not prepare their minds for the aftershocks that would reverberate post the initial adrenaline high.  

From CoWrks and many other member companies that work out of our centres, we received questions on our virtual sessions on how to balance work and personal life during these times.  

Most seem to be unable to unplug from work mode even after work hours and this has been a tenet of discussion on many webinars, spanning a multitude of business sectors.  

Health specialists are calling it “Online Tiredness”.  

They believe that countless Zoom meetings to MS Team catchups have glued people to their screens for far longer than is healthy and it is catching up to them.  

It is believed that office spaces, regardless of how conventional or unconventional they might be, provided a construct of discipline; in-times, out-times, lunch hours, coffee breaks, that ensured the sustenance of yin and yang – balance. 

4. Diminishing creative ROI.  

While there is something to be said about working alone in silence and attaining creative euphoria, it is unequivocally marred by pangs of delirium – undermining the effort to reach zen state.  

Studies over the last decade have consistently shown that workspaces have this innate ability to invoke creative tension, something that can rarely be mimicked when working solo and interacting through tech portals we call computers and cell phones.  

Take a moment and think about it.  

How many times has a project that you were working on, taken a turn towards the right direction, injected purely by a random oversight from a fellow well-wishing colleague?  

Has it really been the same at home?  

While the answers might vary from individual to individual, one can’t deny the influence of having sharp minds around to help shape our perception of creativity by constructive feedback. 

5. Misaligned expectations harm both - employee & employer.  

We, humans, have been blessed with the gift of speech and with that, we have been able to move mountains, define the laws of physics and even unravel the origin of our species.  

But for all the great things that we have been able to achieve, unfortunately, not all of us have been able to master the phonetic of coherent communication.  

This is greatly exacerbated by remotely working for prolonged periods, further disjointing the fabric of our already frail lingua franca.  

Imagine playing Chinese Whispers with a team of 15 people.  

It is almost assured, that by the time the word reaches the tail, it is bound to be more than a synonym of the original that started the chain.  

Now, multiply that chain by 100x and you will have the communication challenge that drives most companies to exhaustion.  

Quite simply put, a 10 minute 1-on-1 in-person catchup with your reporting manager will always be more directional than a 45-minute goal-setting virtual session.  

And since revenue depends on the alignment of those very goals, it is beneficial for both the parties to be pointing towards the same direction. 

2 Reasons Why WFH works! 

1. More output oriented. 

With the advent of mass work from home directives, perceived slogging at work is no longer going to be one of the deciding factors when it comes to incentives or promotions.  

Organizations have awakened from the office rat culture, unanimously prevalent in most, and are rewarding the right people for their contributions towards the larger goal.  

And while the attrition rate might go up initially, the right people will remain and most importantly, foster loyalty and harmony among the ranks. 

As the world limps back to the new normal, organizations should ensure that these institutional learnings are not forgotten and carried on in their culture and imbibed in their DNA.

2. Family time.

Studies conducted by Huffington post indicate that on average, we spend a total of 14 years 2 months of our lives in offices! 

This does not even include the commute, which if added will sizeably add to the total. 

Let that sink in for a moment.  

However, one positive (no pun intended) from the ongoing pandemic is that it has put things in perspective, at least for me and for many I know. 

I, for instance, became more cognizant of how little time I had been spending with my loved ones, frequently procrastinating calling my parents, meeting my close friends - all because I had an “important meeting coming up”. 

Working from home allowed me to reassess and reprioritize when and how I spend time with my precious few and is the undeniable realization to come out of this dystopia.

 A New Dawn? 

To conclude, there are pros and cons to both, each in moderation, will reshape how people work for years to come. 

I, for one, believe that while work from home is here to stay and will be accepted more commonly, the age of the offices is far from over. 

Our species are a collaborative bunch and our drive for innovation cannot be contained over virtual sessions alone.  

The future lies in creating wellness-oriented workspaces that blur the lines between our offices and homes.   

Agree or disagree?     

Do let me know in the comments down below.

#workfromhome #coworking #officespaces #productivity