- June 5, 2020
- Posted by: HR RL India
- Category: #WFH
Hello Everyone,
I hope you are doing safe and fine!?
I do not know where to start from and how to pen down the whole experience of working from home. If you were to write negatives about it, this would be an endless process. However, I have decided to stick to the positives and mention the challenges that I experienced during work from home due to COVID-19.
To begin with, I became a proud father of a son in February and since my one-week paternity leave, I was just there in the office for approximately 6 days and COVID-19 strikes Mumbai and we are all in lockdown. Thanks to the senior leadership support that the decision of WFH was already in place much more before than actual lockdown started. Since we have started work from home on 19th March 2020, we have completed 60 days of adapting to a new lifestyle and a new way of working. 60 Days… Wow!!!
Firstly, I see this whole episode as a blessing in disguise for me that I can spend so much time with my little champ and watch him grow so fast and help my better half in the best way possible. When it comes to the work-from-home experience, yeah it was really an amazing feeling at the start of it, No morning hush and rush… Home cook food every day (No choice anyway ?) seating on the couch and a good closure without rushing to catch the Virar train… Everything seems to be perfect and like a much-needed break.
However, things started getting a little serious than expected and from Janta curfew to Lockdown 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and now 4.0… So far 60 days and counting…
My experience so far has been of a very mixed feeling when it comes to experience about work from home. There were challenging times related to work commitment and you think, if I were in office, I would have managed it in a much better way. Certainly, the efforts are more coordinated, and the consensus is possible in a faster way. However, new challenges also bring new opportunities and highlight the maturity in which you are efficiently able to overcome the same. I would really like to thank my leaders and ReachLocal Employees for so quickly adapting to the new way of working and helping me to overcome the biggest barrier ‘Communication’. I would say, communication isn’t a challenge anymore in the new era due to technological advancement, however, adapting to it quickly is a challenge and certainly we as a team have overcome it in no time.
I certainly miss my office desk and chair just like others…? I had soon realized that desks and chairs are designed in the way to spend long hours and make our day comfortable without any physical stress on the body. A sofa chair can certainly be the most comfortable place in the house but not for long hours of work. Here comes the family providing solutions to make my seating arrangement comfortable and giving an office feeling. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t… Who cares family is taking care of everything you need.
In the last 60 days, I was able to spend some time cooking some of my favorite food that I missed eating outside and cooking it in a much healthier way. No junk food going into the system, the feeling is so good and experience of healthy living, Thanks to WFH and Lockdown. ?
I have a sinusitis problem due to dust allergies leading to constant headaches. As the pollution levels have gone down and no travel means healthy breathing giving me an enormous relief from my sinus and related pains…
Yes, there are challenges, some are big some are small. I have grown with these challenges and it has only developed me both personally and professionally. My leadership skills were best tested during these 60 days and also helping to make them sharper as I learned the grey sides and vast opportunities to grow with my employee coordination and constant feedback of my leader and colleagues.
If anything, that I see in this whole WFH experience, it is OPPORTUNITY and LEARNING.
Thank you and Stay Safe!
Best Regards,
Milap Thakar