“Working From Home” is now The New Normal

Net/Net, Managed “Work From Home” is the new normal and a win-win situation for Individuals, Companies and Government/ Civic bodies.

For a very long time, working from home was an option. It was  exercised when we felt the need for change of scenery or wanted to make a small contribution to the environmental causes or simply when we woke up late. It was suggested but never encouraged. And then suddenly the world as we know it got upended by a tiny virus and here we all are, working from home.

It is likely that this pandemic will fundamentally change the way many companies and even individuals will operate in future. COVID-19 has already forced us to react instantly to the rapidly changing scenarios. We all had to hit the ground running and get adjusted to the new normal. All the constraints that had made it almost impossible for us to work from home pre coronavirus pandemic fell by the way side. This lockdown has also brought us face to face with all the pros and cons of working from home. Let us first focus on some of the obvious benefits of our current work environment . These benefits are considerable enough to compulsorily incorporate work from home in our work schedule .

Traffic Decongestion and Reduction in Pollution

In January this year, Bangalore was given the dubious epithet of “Most Traffic Congested City’ in the world. Not the competition we wanted to win.. On an average, Bengalureans driving during peak hours spend an extra 243 hours, i.e., 10 days, 3 hours in traffic each year. If the organisations plan well, this mammoth sized problem can be tackled by having more people work from home.

Just one week of complete lockdown had a dramatic effect on the air pollution levels in our cities. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board of India's Environment Ministry also showed a 71 percent decrease in nitrogen dioxide levels. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Bangalore have also recorded a drop in these air pollutants, according to CNN. The 10 hours we waste stuck in traffic can be utilised more productively. This will reduce the road rage, traffic induced stress and allow people who have to be on the road , reach their destination on time. Imagine having never to hear the excuse of traffic hindering deliverables.

The simple joys of using our personal space-Or as experts say maintain work life balance.

Last one week has made us see the inherent advantages of working from home. It  gives us the flexibility to work from our comfort zone and not compromise with working hours. Since the longest commute is from one room to another and in some case bed to the table, we are left with considerable amount of time to complete our work. We now have the opportunity to  create our ideal work environment in our homes. Everything we wanted in our office like plants, a nice lamp, art etc can now be done in our personal office space. Working from home also gives you that extra hour of sleep in the morning. If you are an early bird then you get some precious free time to yourself .We spend 20 mins with family for breakfast or lunch and not feel guilty.

The biggest argument against working from home has always been that it makes us lazy and procrastinate. But now that we had to work from home with no other option available, we were quick to figure out a schedule, a designated space and checks and balances .Virtual meetings have become seamless, we get to interact with our colleagues without jumping into a cab and spend 1 hour in traffic for a 30 min meeting.

Lower Stress 

We have all heard about the ways to reduce stress in office. We were asked by all the experts to take a walk during a break ,pack healthy lunch, do some chair exercises, stretches during another break. But how many of us are actually doing it.Well, now that we are in our home offices, we can step back when things are too hectic, do a few lunges if that’s what we need and eat home cooked meal .

Another advantage, I have observed is that our brain functions better when we are not continually under observation. The pressure to perform for an audience might be of our making ,but it is a pressure none the less. In the absence of this pressure, real or perceived, we are able to concentrate better and it reflects on our output.

Increased Focus and Learning.

Having a bunch of colleagues and manager is great; however, it will, in general, make us reliant on them for plenty of things. When we work from home, there is a sense of responsibility. We manage and learn to do a multitude of things on our own. The knowledge we gain will, in general, stick to us longer. Also when work from home becomes a regular affair, like it has in the current situation, we also train and discipline ourselves to work without too many distractions. Since there is no one else to tell us when to get to the next task, we become self-driven  if we want the task done. This is a work in progress though. And like all things in life, it gets better with practice.

But to make this shift more sustainable we have to address the challenges inherent in this model. The lockdown is a great opportunity to do the same. Since we simply cannot go back to office when things are not working, we are forced to find solutions for all the problems or at least learn to live with them.

Here a few key requirements for building an effective home office environment that can be incorporated in our regular work schedule.

1. Infrastructure

One of the most critical enablers is a good safe, secure and comfortable home. Without a good infrastructure like a WIFI, powerful laptop, comfortable table and chair, work from home will be virtually impossible. Having a designated office space will go a long way in making this practice more sustainable. Folks staying in PG independent houses have struggles with Power, Water, Noise, Interruptions, discomforts etc which drastically reduces productivity. The need for good homes in gated societies, good quality co-living homes will be see an increased demand to enable the same.

2. High Level of Discipline and Strong 

One of the most challenging aspects of working from home is to self-motivation. Building a structure is imperative in this scenario. It is freeing to set our own schedule, but if this aspect is ignored, it will be easy to get distracted or complete tasks at odd hours and derail  the whole day. To keep our motivation up, we can create our own reward system. It is also a great idea to break tasks down into smaller, workable steps. Another big requirement for making this practice sustainable is to have a strong governance. This can be achieved with daily calls, daily reports tied to results etc.

3. Stay Connected

Working from home can very quickly lead to feeling of isolation and disconnection from the rest of the team. We need to actively stay connected. This calls for daily scheduled calls, virtual meetings. One unorthodox way is to create a support group of colleagues. Constant updates are confidence building measures which are required to give confidence to your boss and peers that you are on top of your work.

The future of work is “Work From Home”. However this will not replace traditional office work but complement the same. It could be that companies will promote 1-3 days work from home depending on the nature of job. Individuals will focus on getting better homes, better infrastructure at home, better laptops, phone, wi fi. Employers on the other hand will put stronger governance and checks and balances.

Net/Net, Managed “Work From Home” is the new normal and a win-win situation for Individuals, Companies and Government/ Civic bodies.

This article is authored by Prabhat Kumar Tiwary, Founder and CEO of YourOwnROOM. Special thanks to Saumya Tiwary, Founder and CEO of Your Green Canvas for inputs and editing this article.