Gen eXperience - Working from Home

I’m best described as the typical Type A, high strung perfectionist. I’m also a very disciplined entrepreneur, a very worried mother of young adults and a wife missing her husband 6000 miles away. I’m setting context of who I am before I describe how I’ve made the transition from being the first in office, last to leave, die hard corporate drone (not my words, but my son’s) to the more accepting, patient, work from home boss.

Was the transition easy? … not at all. Was it very difficult? … Naah!! It just happened.

I want to describe this transition from a Day 1 to Day 40 perspective (we, as a company chose to work from home in early March):

Day 1

Spent the morning setting up a comfortable workspace, desk, coffee machine and correct lighting in my den. I cannot stress the importance of having an office like feel to your workspace. I cannot stress the importance of natural lighting in this workspace. And I cannot stress the importance of good posture whilst you sit in a non-ergonomically designed chair (vs. the very comfortable one you had in office). I rechecked my internet connection/spare modem/data card (for dire emergencies because hot-spotting through your phone is NOT ideal). And by 10 am, I was ready to spend an extended duration of time working from home. (I anticipated 30 days and now that number seems to be 150 days!)

Day 2

Had a very early realization that without strong processes, meeting rhythms, my day was becoming very cluttered and unstructured. (15 days later, the deluge of webinars, online learning, etc. could have easily hijacked anything important that I wanted to get done). Day 2 was really about setting a strong schedule around my workday - FaceTime with teams, clients, candidates - had apportioned times with enough time set aside for small breaks/walk arounds and informal one-on-one chats with family and friends. But the hours I set aside for just reflection, making notes on what needs to be done and for war room/strategy discussions, have really been the ones that hold us in good stead.

Week 1

Spent in laying the groundwork for the weeks and months to come, forming committees, delegating accountabilities, setting rhythms and countless hours spent on just talking to the team on both personal and professional issues, challenges of working from home, connecting with their family members and assuring everyone that despite the tough times ahead, this too will pass. We did a brilliant job of our test run for WFH and the team and I were so proud.

Week 2

Was about adjustments, flexibility and understanding the actual reality of working from home - barking pets, toddlers on-screen, a constant flow of household traffic and its accompanying soundtrack on video calls. This was the week most of us had sit down conversations with our families, requesting support and help to make this situation work. We also refined our video and call etiquettes to a fine art.

Week 3

Lockdown happens in India and the realization sinks in for that there is such resistance and unpreparedness for dealing with both personal and professional challenges that accompanied the lockdown for a lot of our stakeholders. With the unavailability of house help, a lot of folks needed further flexibility to manage their work schedules and there was a quick pivot to accommodate the same. There were also a lot of mental and physical health-related discussions and all of us put together our personal BCP - what we will do in the worst possible circumstance personally. It was a very reassuring exercise because once you take out the fear of the unknown, and folks know what they need to do, panic dies down and we all started refocussing on what matters. Our morning catch up zoom calls were divided into our daily huddle but also a sense check of how we were coping. We are still doing a one-word check-in everyday - How are we feeling today? It has really helped connecting with the team at a deeper level.

Week 4-6

Most of us found our mojo of the WFH routine. We sharpened the saw on who/when/what in terms of our meetings, personal routines, team time, time with family, exercise, cooking and cleaning routines. We fell into a pattern of daily catch ups and the like. But we are constantly looking to shake things up - sitting at home we realised everyone wants some novelty and the trick is to maintain the balance between engagement & discipline. We revived our company book club, our engagement with non for profits and beyond an extensive online learning and development calendar and strategy realignment sessions, found time to catch up virtually over meals, drinks & music, involving our families and children in wonderfully moderated virtual meetings. The blurring of professional and personal lines may not be for everyone, but even if it happens within small groups in the office, it’s a wonderful way to feel connected, engaged.

My learnings from this incredible, life-altering time have been:

1.      Working from home is as easy or difficult you want it to be

2.      Alignment within family members for space, privacy must be discussed

3.      How productive you want to be is a choice, but it’s a choice that must be transparently discussed between teams

4.      Organizations trying to do company-wide initiatives need to reconsider the hyperlocal team model and let teams drive engagement. It’s amazing to see when you empower people how they perform beyond expectations.

5.      In a constantly digitally connected world, do you have the courage to have a couple of blackout hours for just self and family?

6.      Discipline is the key to both work and leisure. Both must be pursued with equal rigor.

7.      We must get out of this crisis wiser, stronger and healthier. Personally, emotionally, spiritually, professionally and financially. We owe it ourselves and our loved ones.

I can put down myriad other learnings like cutting my son’s hair, training my beautiful dogs new tricks, taking beautiful pictures of everyday objects on my phone, building fabulous music playlists … it’s an endless list of new skills learnt, unlearning of old ways, embracing digital as a way of life. But that’s for us to discuss one-on-one. Drop me a message!