Proshore Diaries | Before and After Lockdown Situation | March 2020
This month was full of fear and emotions: COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic and this pandemic had a direct impact on our workplace too. In this episode, we’ll be talking about the workplace scenario around COVID-19
Beginning of the month…
TGIF was just over for the month of February. We were moving towards a fresh start to March. The energy was as usual in every individual. Everything was going fine. The only thing missing in our workplace was: Angel and Anjana. They are the only couples in our Workplace that have been with us for several years. They were being missed because they were on their trip to Thailand. In other words, they were on their “Honeymoon”. The chair was void for more than a week.
Congratulations Chhitiz…
Chhitiz, my former desk partner, was also planning to visit Malaysia soon. But his scenario was different from Angel and Anjana. He recently got graduated with MBA degrees and he was planning a trip for the convocation ceremony. The day arrived, and he departed to Malaysia for his convocation. He traveled with his Mother.
Sign of danger…
The time they traveled to these countries, the situation of the world was different from normal. The COVID-19 virus was gradually rising in China. The fear of spreading the virus worldwide couldn’t be hidden. And these countries were more linked to China: traditionally and economically. Anyways, they traveled and returned back safe.
Positive Vibes…
The people here were positive and confident in the beginning. It may be because they might have thought this Virus is bound to China. Or It may not be. Anyways, they were positive. Positive in the sense of mentality, not Virus ;). When Chhitiz returned from Malaysia, he bought different Pokemon Characters with him. It was in the form of a toy though 😉. He gave it to those people who were more or less a fan of Pokemon. One of them was Atul. Atul and Chhitiz still play pokemon go. Sometimes, the go-to raid in the Basantapur area. 😄
Unseen Happiness…
One random day in the WorkPlace, Babish was feeling hungry. It seems like it’s not any great deal because everyone feels hungry, why only babish? But both his hunger and thought broke very well at that time. He asked Nabindra to manage the “Samosas” to everyone in the WorkPlace just because he was hungry. This type of thought needs to be respected anywhere.👏
Nabindra couldn’t manage Samosa that day because it was already late. The next morning, he did the remaining job. He brought Samosa and it was like Samosa to you, you, everyone 😛. It was over before I arrived. Unlucky me!
Alert Signal!
The days were passing good and confident amid COVID-19 fear. The management was aware of it and responded by Keeping Hand Sanitizers in every table. It was the initiation of the fight against this Corona Virus in our Workplace. But everyone knew it wouldn’t last long. Not only Sanitizers, but we also kept good care of our hygiene as well.
In this scenario, I had the opportunity to hold the Proshore Rostrum. I thought this place would be a great platform for making people aware of the COVID-19. The topics were more centered around the coronavirus: causes and prevention, impact on the workplace, impact on technology, etc. The session was more knowledge-based, more than it used to be. And meanwhile, some of the people were asked to sell something. Everyone tried their good but Nishant’s way was next level. It obvious because he is the marketing guy 😉
Time for Major step…
Finally, the day came where management had to take a major step against coronavirus. As a result, different corona related pamphlets were posted on the wall of the WorkPlace. It was the beginning of the second step. The management had to make different hygiene protocols like washing hands before entering the workplace, washing hands 3–4 times a day, keeping distance, and everything possible. But management had already started planning for the next step and that’s “Work From Home”.
Fierce environment…
The days passed, people were walking into the workplace like the bank robbers. The face is covered with a mask, and the gloves in hand. The only thing missing was the gun. The environment now turned fearful. The story of Karan dai is even funnier, he was working wearing helmets in his head. That was a part of the fun though. The management clearly understood the situation and was ready to activate the next protocol.
The show must go on!
It was a random meeting with everyone on the terrace of our office because it was only the place where we could maintain some distance and have a talk. “The fear of Coronavirus is growing and we must be prepared against that”, said Prakash, Manager of People Operations at Proshore. “We are going to release the Protocol for Work From Home and that would be the next step we are taking once the lockdown is regulated. We are testing it with one team from tomorrow”. “The show must go on”, said Roshan, CTO of Proshore. This was the beginning of that show, which no one would have imagined a few months back.
Lockdown Regulated…
Finally, Lockdown was regulated in the whole country. People were in their home, the management was in dilemma and bosses were worried. But everyone knew health was the first priority. This was the time where our general channel has been most active.
Changing Environment…
The first few days were like “Ghar Ghar ma office”. I don’t know what other colleagues thought, I didn’t feel the pleasure of working at home in the first few days because the home was never the workplace before. Usually, people do everything except work in their homes. The energy is different from what we feel in the workplace. The main challenge was to adapt, and, finally, the majority of people were able to do so. The different environment was needed, and the management team was able to do so. They were able to create a virtual environment, that tried to bring back the energy the people needed.
The Khaja Challenge…
We have initiated the #KhajaChallenge, where people’s snacks can participate. There were varieties of snacks: aalu chop from Prakash dai, pasta from Asis dai, puri tarkari from Babish, Paani puri from Roshan, Thukpa from Karan, Roti from kamal and Sakar, and not to forget 2 pm from Amit, rice from Haico, and “I don’t know” dish from Jeroen😛, and many more dishes from the people. I guess People were very curious to know what bosses would eat at home. The message was: “we all are common”.
Like #khajaChallenge, we were also running #WhoAmI challenge, where people should guess the personality based on the given clues. Well, some clues were easy and some were not.
Chiya Guff…
We were missing the cafe where we used to have a chiya guff. We couldn’t go to the cafe but what we all can do was to create the same environment, which was only virtually possible. Prakash dai initiated the virtual “Chiya Guff” where all the people would join a video conference and share random stuff. Possibly not office related things. This little thing made people more connected.
Staying Positive
It’s March already and we’re still having lockdown. It’s been really frustrated sitting inside home. As many people say, they are eager to have Momo’s first when this lockdown gets over. I hope we’ll be back together in our workplace soon and have the same magical environment as before. What we feel is that we should spend some valuable time with all the family members during the lockdown, who knows when we will be together like this again😊
We’ll back again with another interesting episode of Proshore Diaries. Please follow our Social Media for the latest company-related updates and blog as well. Enjoy reading! 😊
Stay safe. Here’s the guidelines of WHO against COVID-19: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance
