What’s the best parts about working from home, now that we all have to? 

⏰ Time and sanity saved from crowded commutes in the morning and evening.

? No pants, no shirts, no socks, no shoes. This is a game-changer. Why do we need those to work anyway!?

? No need for expensive drinks and team lunches, just for networking and team spirit.

? No bullsh*t face-to-face politics. Zoom downplays all forms of sarcastic remarks, annoying comments, gestural power plays, thank god. 

?‍?‍?‍? More family time, with children and spouse, having meals, random play time, etc. For some this is a con, yes I know. If so, this is a signal for you to fix things in the family. 

? So much more less consumption and more $avings. When you have to go to an office to work, it comes with a certain lifestyle and all the associated costs of that lifestyle - clothes, shoes, meals, transport, drinks, accessories. All that goes away when you WFH.

? Less carbon release, better for the planet. No fumes from your car. No need for massive air-conditioning in the building and everything that runs in it. Your office is now your laptop. Can’t beat the energy savings! 

To be honest, after such an extended period of time working from home, I must say, I kinda hooked now. And that’s surprising to myself, because I’d always been a out-and-about guy. I could work from home but I always preferred to work outside in cafes. Initially when we were all forced to stay home, I was super resistant to it. But now, I’m easing into it. The benefits seem to outweigh the costs, it seems. Come to think of it, in the first place the costs were more psychological and habitual, all in my head anyway. I think, even if the lockdown measures are lifted, I’m going to want to stay home to work more often than heading out. 80:20 at least, or out for a day within a 5-day work week.

New normal, indeed.

-———

23 May 2020

Worst parts of WFH

I knew I had to write the flipside of this previous post about the best parts of working from home. Because obviously, not all will take to it so well. Even for me who generally came around to it, it’s not all bed of roses. So what’s the worst parts about working from home, now that we all have to?

⚖️ Unhealthy enmeshment of work and home, longer working hours = poorer work-life balance.

?? Workers with young children will struggle to balance home-based learning and working from home, especially if schools remain closed.

? Harder to build team camaraderie =  team under-performance.

? Harder to deepen work relationships between peers and management = less loyalty, higher turnover.

? Company culture will be empty without deep relationships.

?‍? Working from home is associated with privilege. Not every job can be done remotely, and those that cannot, risk losing their jobs. Already happening.

? Being remote means companies can hire globally. Location is no longer a competitive advantage.

? Local economic ecosystems of offices, eateries and all the amenities around where people used to work, will shut down = more jobs, livelihoods gone.

? Less sunlight, clean air, nature = poorer physical and mental health

Now that I had contemplated the flipside, things don’t look so one-sided and rosy anymore. I wonder though, the new normal seems inevitable. How can we mitigate some of these downsides and amplify the upsides? I mean, some of these downsides are down only because we judge it based on old normal standards, for example, you need to have face-to-face interaction in order to build team spirit and culture. Not many had really tried building culture remotely. So it still remains to be seen…