So I quickly chose my office, the balcony! Adapt or be disrupted (have your meetings disturbed in my case). #lockdown reflections

I have been working from home since the 16th of March, a decision made from fear, anxiety and just not knowing what was going to happen next. On the 14th of March, we received an email from our Director informing us of the decisions taken by the university in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and what was being done to flatten the curve. The following day I emailed my line manager informing him that I will be working from home, luckily my role allows that and ,in my mind at least, I seem to be productive when I work from home now and then anyway. Even though a part of me knew that we had a lockdown looming, based on what I had seen happening in other countries, I think I was a bit in denial that we would go through the same. When the president addressed our nation to announce the lockdown, it felt somewhat like a dream, it felt like it was happening and not happening at the same time, you know what I mean? It felt like a dream and a nightmare at the same time. I commend our president, Cyril Ramaphosa and his team for acting swiftly to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa, we are led fellow South Africans! At the same time it hit me, that things are just never going to be the same. A lot of people will lose jobs, the economy will suffer, poverty will continue to ravage low income communities and only those with access to decent healthcare will have a chance to survive, should they get infected.

I have to also confess that when I decided to work from home, prior to having no choice at all, I really underestimated how this was going to impact my daily routine, my mental health and that thing they call work/life balance. I am now a mother, a teacher, a line manager and everything else; a life coordinator. Those who know me, know that I am always looking at how we can make processes more efficient through tech tools, so I am always checking out something, too many things at once sometimes. Obviously, I was overjoyed when our IT Manager shared tools that we could use as we transition to remote working. Hours later, I setup a weekly check-in for our team, did the same for participants on our current programme. I couldn’t wait to see their faces and hear their voices! We have team check-ins on Mondays and I have to tell you about what unfolded during our first check-in.

I looked around our apartment, a one-bed flat that I share with my son and now my 3 year old niece who I fetched for a visit just before lockdown. Quickly I realised that the check-in with my colleagues was going to be an interesting one. On the day, the kids were watching cartoons and singing at the same time, at 9.30am for heaven’s sake. My niece was on the bed playing with some blocks, making click-clock sounds. I once read an article on HBR discussing the fact that you have to act fast to be seen as a leader. One of the questions asked on the article was: “Is there a correlation between speed and perceived leadership effectiveness?” The answer is “Yes” Shiela! So I quickly chose my office, the balcony! Adapt or be disrupted (disturbed meetings in my case).

I acted fast; a leader in my own home, yaaas queen! I closed the door to minimise the noise from the little people. Just as the check-in started, my 8 year old son was banging on the window, asking how long I would be, could he please have ice-cream, could he please take the tablet and were the biscuits for later or for now mom? By the way I am only called mom when the matter is slightly urgent. It starts with mama, followed by mommy, then mom. When it’s a burning issue, then he uses my name, Shiela. “Shiela can we please discuss this please” or “Shiela can I please tell you about my decision”? He is an 8 year old that can clearly articulate himself and reasons very well for his age. I love and nurture this, but at times I need a break, I really do.

On the banging of the window, let’s just say that I did not hear anything and continued with the meeting, then the banging continued, that’s when I thanked the universe for the person who came up with the option to mute ones mic during virtual meetings, I normally don’t like using it because most of the time I speak and get frustrated at people continuing as if I did not say anything, then discovering that I forgot to unmute. Imagine all those lovely constructed sentences and absolutely no one heard them. So anyway, I did exactly that, muted myself, thank you Jesus for the mute button! Then my colleague said, “excuse me” and I just knew things were about to go down. Seconds later, he came back to tell us that he had to calm one of the dogs, I bet the dog wanted to join the meeting, love it. A minute later, another colleague’s 8 month old crawled into the meeting, and then I really struggled to focus, I love babies, I really do. So while everyone was talking I was waving and smiling with the baby. The banging on the window behind me didn’t stop, but in a nutshell the check-in went well. The meeting Gods were with us. We all said bye ten times, sounded like a bye-song before we ended the meeting.

Ok this was supposed to be a serious reflection, so in closing:

·     Check up on your family, colleagues and friends: especially those that are always checking up on everyone else. I am one of those, so I have also learnt to shout when I need help and when I am not coping, I am doing ok at the moment.

·     Empathise and not assume that just because you have uncapped wifi, you are still productive, have a roof of over your head, still have a job, that it is the same for everyone else. Many, right now, are thinking of where their next meal is going to come from and where they will get the next few units of pre-paid electricity.

·     Take care of yourself: take social media breaks, play with your family, read that book you bought last year (I have 4) so I am not judging you here. Play games with your kids, sing with your family and once in a while escape to have some me-time if you can, I have mine in the balcony, for an hour or so, no one is allowed to come into my “office”. Do the little things that will go a long way.

Please stay healthy and take care.