This year, in retrospect, has been a watershed of
sorts for the entire human civilization.
The “rush hour” as we have known almost all our
lives, evaporated for a while as people started working from home and public transport
went off the roads. Even after the lockdown was lifted, this rush hour was
nowhere near the levels before the pandemic struck.
Working from home is now the default paradigm for
many. Organizations, for whom this concept was an anathema, have realized the
value of this practice to keep business running. My personal experience has
been very surprising.
I have been working from home for many years now,
and this lockdown really did not affect my daily operations. What I discovered
and observed over the past few months happening in the organization I work with
while everyone was working from home, can be listed as follows :
·
People goofed
off less on the job – they apparently had more work or pressures of daily
chores to be attended to and tried to finish off office work as quickly as
possible
·
Conference
calls very quickly became highly focused discussions, started and finished on
time, almost always. Actions agreed upon during the call were closed off in due
time
·
Inter-departmental
barriers slowly evaporated – everyone worked as a “single team” during project
reviews, project delivery, and customer handling – something I have never
witnessed before
·
Number of
contributors to address challenges has increased noticeably
· Lack of “corridor conversations” or “coffee machine gossip” have resulted in removal of many erstwhile thought processes and interdepartmental barriers, and metamorphosed into a more positive fellow feeling towards colleagues – the organization is becoming more cohesive with time – this, I think, is the most significant benefit that a business entity can have.
·
The organization
is seriously contemplating reducing office space and making WFH a regular
feature. Will save a fortune in establishment costs over time.
2021 will see the advent of a new class of
organizations – where WFH will be a default standard, snazzy offices will be
smaller and cozier, there will be different timings for different people to
attend office and rush hour will be spread out thin across a wider time block.
The so-called “work-life-balance” will have a new
meaning.
Let me know your thoughts.
