- March 24, 2020
- Blog
WFH is not as easy as it sounds.
To most the 'H' in WFH possibly means 'Home' - a home with a family of parents or spouse or children. But we were astounded to find the proportion of employees in our own company, city and the country - who all live by themselves. Migrated from home. Many have not been able to make back to their homes and after a lock-down, it is all really only Work From Hostels..
Fears of folks in hostels are even more real. An emotion acerbated by family members who order, demand and beseech them to head back home, come what may! If they have survived such emotional appeals, they are greeted with isolation. And then there is cold work to do. Nothing more can be a recipe for disaster.
There are both mental and physical consequences of such WFH. The things we take for granted: meeting people, friends and colleagues are suddenly gone. Or physical work such as taking a walk to a colleague, water cooler, cafe, bus stop, shopping, or some such. That tea or snacks or lunch served is also gone. All gone. One just faces a laptop or a pc, internet connection and a very silent room. It is fine for a couple days. In fact, employees even welcome it. But current situation in Italy - employees indoors for now weeks - suggests otherwise.
People appear to suffer from sleep disorders, eating disorders, weight gain, depression and more. "I feel caged / jailed" is a common refrain.
It is an unavoidable common sacrifice that the nation is forced to make. But it can be managed. What can be done? Here are some simple things that came to our mind:
Communication side:
- Communicate more: being more connected over Skype, hangouts and such is critical. We mandated team leads or HR to have random two minute calls with each employee twice a day - with no work related items in the agenda. Two minute time is important. That is the time enough to elicit lurking problems the employee may be facing.
- Video calls with four or more employees together is a great way to alleviate isolation.
- Encourage two or more employees to talk regularly with each other. One team lead found a simple way. He will ask question to employee 1 whose answers lie with employee 2.
- Request employee to take video calls twice a day with close friends / relatives. Also find out if they have done so and their well being.
- Ensure speed dials are in place for emergency, family and team-lead.
Physical side:
- Encourage employees to take mandatory walks within home every one hour. When there is a call with team leads, both are encouraged to walk while talking.
- Check if employees have exercised. 4-5 Suryanamaskar is awesome. One can do it thrice a day some times together both facing the camera.
- Allow time for employees to cook their own meals. So work time starts earlier than office time and it also closes a little later. For e.g. if office timing is 9 am - 6 pm, WFH starts 8.30 am and ends 6.30 pm. There are three mandatory breaks: the first at about 10 am for 30 minutes for making a smoothie or brewing tea/coffee and fixing a snack. The second at about 1 to 2.30 PM for cooking lunch and eating. The last between 5 and 5:30 PM for evening brewing tea and fixing snacks. Nothing can be more soothing than cooking - even cooking ready to eat meals. Nothing can be more soothing than talking about how it went and how it tasted. One is also encouraged to 'eat together' with video-call on.
- A few hostels may not allow cooking. Suggest ways to make oneself cold snacks and lunches as an alternative.
Mental discipline side:
- Suggest waking up at fixed time in a day. And start and close work time at fixed times. Allowing employees to work at will leads to poor discipline. Consequently, it may lead to poor sleep timings and in the end to sleep disorders.
- Get into 'office' mode: dress up and move to a corner in the hostel (if possible) is the work area. Working out of bed can be quite difficult eventually.
- Commit more: make employees commit to tighter schedules and deadlines. Heightened performance schedules allows for mind to be occupied and not feel the isolation.
- Employees will forget to order groceries. Check this out. See if the order includes fruits, nuts, juices and such.
- Forget employees during weekends, unless they have reached out seeking help.
Keep it light and personal:
- Encourage setting up soothing music while at work. Not rock.
- Encourage to have a small fish bowl with a name. Ask about its well being also.
- Circulate jokes and enjoy jokes more than ever. Laughing together is a great antidote to depression, sleep disorder and is also a great exercise.
- Team leads are encouraged to peer a bit more closely to personal habits post office hours. Know the communication coordinates of room mates or next roomie number. Look out for drinking and substance abuse. It can be disastrous and help from competent sources should be immediately organised.
- Team leads are encouraged to listen to all problems both office and personal with great empathy and provide as much common sense solutions as possible. Listening to unsaid words are now more important. Helping them cope is even more important. If need be HR may be involved with other qualified back ups.
- Allow team members to simultaneously play group games - chess?
These are uncertain times with unknown consequences. So there is really no right or wrong solutions.
Let me know what you think of the above and what other solutions exists?
