Reflections on Work From Home

As the 2021 National Work From Home (WFH) day approaches next week, June 24th - plan ahead to have a cupcake in the breakroom/kitchen, and let's reflect on last year.

WFH in 2020-21

I've worked from home for about seven years now, and have found it to be a great fit for how I work and the work/life balance I strive for in my life, but this last year isn't exactly a perfect example of what WFH is like in non-crisis times. So let's talk about a little of what was different this last year (beyond the substantial and real grief and worry of the pandemic):

Travel:

For example, before this last year, I used my WFH status to work from anywhere and incorporated regular travel as part of my working days - something that just wasn't possible this last year. This is a huge benefit of remote work that wasn't feasible this year. It's such a popular feature, as is the ability to live in a different city from where your work is located, that the adoption of the phrase "Work From Anywhere" is on the rise.

Isolation:

Before COVID-19, I balanced the isolation of working from home by ensuring that I got out and saw people regularly (if only just at the library or the grocery store). This last year, options for overcoming that isolation were harder to come by, especially in winter months, when outside visits were less possible. And let me tell you, even for a person accustomed to this type of work, it made remote work far more difficult.

Last year, as the shock of initial changes settled, it became clear that we all needed to work harder to form bonds and relationships in small ways with our coworkers. From organizing Zoom happy hours or remembering to write at least one sentence in an email that recognized the recipient as a human being and offering some element to develop that relationship.

Design:

Last year many of you were suddenly forced to figure out how to get jobs done from the home that had processes, systems, technology that just were not intended to function remotely. Some offices struggled to collaborate remotely where other companies invested in resources like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack and supported their employees in the transition to codifying how the team would use those tools to get things done. Whether your org adjusted or didn't, doing a job that is designed with remote work in mind from the start makes a big difference in the ease of your work and potential frustrations, failures, and ultimately - your overall work satisfaction.

So, if your frustration fell along these three lines, you are both in good company and there is still some promise that WFH might work for you in better circumstances. Whatever your work future holds for you, whether returning to an office, staying home, or working a hybrid of both, I hope you find a good fit and enjoy it in good health.

Happy National Work from Home day on June 24th! I'll toast my printer/fax machine in your honor. :)

Source for survey information below is here: https://nationaltoday.com/national-work-home-day/

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