When the world was forced to Work From Home !
In Singapore, the decision to announce work from home will complete one year in effect very soon. In normal times, the option to WFH was much coveted. But when forced upon suddenly last year, it threw many a things off-balance for the office-going crowd.
The world was barely able to cope with the development that was unfolding by then. COVID-19 was just introduced into our vocabulary and then WFH was introduced too, as a more permanent arrangement. Keeping more pandemic-serious things aside, work from home unsettled our lives in many other ways.
Theoretically, it would have brought families together. Practically, however, many spouses were left fighting for personal space which was hitherto taken for granted. And even as they competed furiously for who takes calls from where and who helps kids with their homeschooling, kids had free rein to turn the house upside down. At some point, optimists harped on how either the mothers robbed of their me-time or spouses spending too much time with each other will surely find a solution to Covid19 (if not scientists). Such was the tension at home office while quietly in the background, the kitchen worked overtime and coffee/tea had to be brewed far more times to handle extra stress.
Home office space turned out to be like a demanding mistress. More, bigger screens, professional decor icons, fancier gadgets. People scurried around for more supplies to create a work ambience and used that as an excuse to indulge. Suddenly, the market had run out of office-chair supply. Our precious gaming chair had to be ordered 3 months in advance, was an expensive indulgence and when it arrived, the old one already had suitors picking it up sooner than we had fixed the new one. Such was the demand and supply gap.
Linkedin denizens were leading conversations around the new normal. Work from home was a trending topic . Posts & blogs were written about etiquettes to observe while attending video calls and how to observe discipline in absence of a structure that existed earlier. There was an overkill of advice as everybody sensed the transpiring of a near end-of-the-world experience and felt the need to record their survival logs and dole out wisdom resulting from it.
Somewhere along as work from home took a toll on everyone (notwithstanding the upsides), the rigidity of suggestions was toned down. The corporate world became a lot kinder thanks to those rebellious kids who would gatecrash their parents’ virtual off-sites and spread their cuteness around and hence enlightened corporate gurus to acknowledge the vulnerabilities of humans behind their Zoom ids.
With borders shut, airlines resting and no event/conference/meetings happening anywhere, employees who travelled a lot, suffered from withdrawal symptoms and clung to their travel bags and suits for some more time while they longingly remembered the time they lived their business travel tales. Those trips were tiring, yes, but talk about the charm of frequently flying above the planet, across time zones while in the grips of a jet-lagged stupor. Same is true for the non-business travellers too.
A challenging time for office grapevine indeed! How could anything match the experience of those coffee breaks in office pantry where the most relevant of all pacts are exchanged, loyalties are asserted and secrets shared. You thought you’ll try making a business plan in isolation while excercising your focus. From where will emanate, the insights that would otherwise be conjured up in the post office drink sessions with colleagues !
Zoom & company came along as saviours. It was the next best thing to teleportation to meet and greet the colleagues across time zones, as borders closed. Video calls conquered all but also inflicted upon all the tyranny of having to still attend multiple trainings & workshops never mind the imminent end-of-the world type potential danger.
The interest in meetings still had to be feigned, heads had to nod in agreement, eye contact still maintained, important matters still deferred to a later zoom meeting. In fact, now, even for the more informal office chit-chat, zoom was the portal of interaction.
Sometime around the mid-year, zoom-burnout was also acknowledged and among the suggested ways to treat this malady was the idea that fun get-togethers be organised or empowering yoga sessions be held — on ( you knew it already) ZOOM!
2021 carries on this legacy , somewhat. With the vaccine having made only a recent entry onto the world stage, WFH is here to stay. The burnout, stress, confusion will remain. Of Course there is a promise of getting somewhat back to the old normal. Some offices in some parts of the world are back in action. In Singapore, alternate week for office presence has been adopted as the step prior to full-swing office operation later in the year.
Of course, for every disruption caused by WFH, there were also many upsides. For families, there was more bonding time due to flexible timings (once the infighting stopped and truce pact signed) . For companies, less travel cost (a non-controversial way of cutting down on pretentious travel ) and for the planet, far less air pollution (Climate change solutions are not that difficult after all ). Here’s looking at you 2021 — less complications please !
