My experience of working from home

As we (hopefully) move towards the end of lockdown in India, I take this moment to acknowledge and address my experience of working from home over the past 3 months starting mid-March.

A brief background about what I do

I assist the family office of our anchor investor in the VC space while providing support to the public equities team as needed.

On the VC side, I am responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence, investment decision making, being an Observer on behalf of the investor during board meetings, creating and maintaining periodic MIS, liaisoning with founders of our portfolio companies, and providing support whenever required.

On the public equities side, I am responsible for providing follow-on support on the companies that were under my coverage during my first year, sitting in on investment meetings, and providing additional support wherever required.

My experience of WFH

I prioritize work-life balance. It helps me to maintain my sanity. I'm in the office by 8 am, and like to be done by 5 pm. This gives me about 3-4 hours to spend with my family and my thoughts once I am home. During a team-building exercise where we were all asked to elaborate on one quality of a team member we all like- almost half the team members said they like how I maintain my work-life balance. A plus point, I hope.

So, naturally when COVID brought the (forced) opportunity to WFH, I thrived. How?

• My daily commute of 2.5-3 hours was now 0. Add an hour to recover from Bombay traffic, humidity, and hassles of hailing an auto/taxi. I could save about 4 hours a day which was effectively 45% of the time I spent in the office!
• I did not have to plan my day or my personal obligations around my schedule. I could seamlessly do both at my leisure.
• I had more time to either work, or read, or spend with my family. Effectively I had more control over my time.
• I saved a lot of money that I usually spend on travel and food while commuting. A rupee saved is a rupee earned, isn't it?

Has WFH decreased my productivity?

My work is more suited to the WFH scene, especially because it is a job where we apply our mental faculties. Here, time is of the essence. So even if I could do the same thing in a lesser time, my productivity improves mathematically. Simple isn't it?

But let's delve on numbers since we are in an analytical field.

From December to Mid-March (3.5 months)-

• Deals evaluated closely - 21
• Term sheets extended - 5
• SHAs signed - 2
• Pitch days/ Conferences attended - 4
• Cities traveled for due diligence - 2
• Portfolio company founders met in person - 6

From Mid-March to end of May (2.5 months)-

• Deals evaluated closely - 25
• Term sheet(s) extended - 1
• SHAs signed - 2
• Virtual Pitch days/ Conferences attended - 3
• Attended board meetings as Observer - 3/4
• Zoom/Webex/Hangouts pitch calls with founders - 10/12

Not only this, with all the time saved, I started conceptualizing and writing my thoughts on LinkedIn which helped me create a community however small, and provided a fresh deal flow.

Not bad I'd say!

Having said this, I do acknowledge the support from my organization which has given us the liberty to adopt our own routines. Even pre-COVID, we had the liberty of taking WFH days. We don't fuss on entry/exit times or number of hours worked, but on output. So despite my improved productivity, I had a headstart that my organization provided to me.

But is it all hunky-dory?

Well, not really. I do miss my office and my cabin, and my stationery. I do miss daily conversations with my colleagues, and the investment debates in the conference room. And I quite dislike a small communication barrier that exists with remote working.

Living in a Bombay apartment with 2 other family members also working from home brings its own set of challenges. There are times where I've had to sacrifice working space for others, zoom calls that strain the already slow internet connection, hangout meets lasting 2 hours that could have been done within 30 mins if everyone were in the office! We really underestimate explaining something with the help of a whiteboard.

Concluding remarks

Is it all great? Not really, there are teething issues. But nothing that can't be solved by putting in two heads.

Is it all bad? Not for me at least, since I thrive in such situations!

WFH is a welcome change that I would not mind if implemented on an on-going basis. Yes, I would still like to retain the office space, but the allure of flexibility and having time on hand is too good to let go.

Of course each job is different, and not every job can be best performed remotely. But as experienced in these past 3 months, many jobs can be.

I'd love to hear thoughts and arguments supporting either option.