Sharing some thoughts on the year 2020...

 

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.