The New Work Etiquette
Work from home with extended lock down is creating several emotions and psychological struggles globally. Glad that I say it’s just psychological as can’t imagine what must be going through business owners, people living on daily wages and others struggling financially and with basic needs. While many of us are still having jobs and are able to work from home comfortably, I just thought to pen down something for the first time that may help many individuals to do little better in this phase of the pandemic.
To start with, let me first introduce myself.
I, Prashant Ramdas Patil, have been working in the IT Industry for the past several years. I am blessed to have at home — loving parents and wife, caring elder sisters, energetic son in 4th grade and nephew who just started his career in IT. Cannot forget to mention about our dog who is a drama prince but also a sweetheart of everyone. My hobbies mostly include playing sports and recently before lock down started enjoying tennis after a long gap. I got my son involved as well but now its unfortunate that it has suddenly stopped. Just like many of you, always enjoy occasional drinks after work, coffee breaks with colleagues and having face to face interaction rather than emails.
While working on myself, I thought to share areas where one can improve at this crucial junction of what can be the next turning point of new working culture.
Follow office timings: Point is try enjoying early morning and pleasant evening breeze with whatever activities you used to do earlier. There could be exceptions — late evening /early morning calls, internet being down, family matters etc. but aim to maintain a routine and also prepare to have exceptions. You may also talk about it with your leader and peers so that they keep in mind about timings whenever they have something to discuss. For some reason if you can’t follow normal office hours, at least time plan your work hours and try to follow it strictly with no distractions. At the same time strongly recommend to pitch in extra efforts whenever required. Business owners, Senior leaders must be going through a lot of stress while keeping the organization operating under uncertainty and financial turbulence. They need us more just like we need our pay cheque coming.
Micro-planning and tracking all work activities: It’s not re-measuring the productivity but staying away with new cropping up distractions that has not been accounted so far. Say your stash recently filled in the fridge and cabinets, TV running in background etc. You may also think of having slots for discussions with peers, manager in advance so that you have no-distraction time zones properly. Nothing beats writing and tracking activities at a granular level with a pencil but everyone has their own way (I have also seen many effectively using Excel and OneNote). It would also make it easier to plan and slot your learning sessions and other added initiatives that you may have been involved with. For families where both partners are working, it might be worth planning regularly in advance the responsibilities of the household chores. The key thing is you track your pace of work more closely than ever as it is quite easy to get distracted or get caught in some sort of psychological hurdle where emotions can trick to come up with excuses rather than you working on it.
Interactions and Meetings: Especially if you are leading a team or a manager, staying in constant touch with every team member on a regular basis for how they are coping work from home, can turn out to be a significant morale booster. This applies to peers as well working on a project or on a common theme. It is quite essential to back your teammate if he/she is facing a constant hurdle. There is(are) always less extrovert kind in the team and you may not learn their issues until a one on one interaction. It can also help avoid any surprises during the phase of work where deliverable need to be at the finish line.
You may also have witnessed during formal meetings where key participants have connectivity issues and the topic matter needs to be replayed. While it may help to chair meetings with more patience, few things can also be factored while setting up the meeting –
- If you are chairing a meeting agenda and the background well-articulated so that it doesn’t require repeating
- As a participant, understand agenda and shoot any questions offline so that you are better prepared
- Keep the number of items in agenda optimal — too many areas for discussion can result in less fruitful participation and outcome as people are bound to get distracted in lengthy calls.
- Keep the duration optimal and with buffer considering participants may have temporary connectivity issues.
- Be prepared to hear back ground kids voice. Don’t forget to say hi if they are on the video :-)
Staying motivated: The current pandemic can’t last forever but will have the lasting impact on lifestyle and working culture. Our attitude, values and belief system will not only define personal and work discipline but will also have prominent impact on our kids and coming new work generation we will be working with. Simon Sinek’s millennial interview hit me hard when he gave the analogy of going to gym. You may not see the immediate effect in a day or week but will witness the lasting impact in future if your disciplined to incorporate as daily habit. So, there might be no one watching you working hard in solo or no one to appreciate it on a daily basis but for sure it will bring fruitful results and much deserved recognition in the future. Few suggestions in your life style for creating healthier mindset -
- Stay away from social media during work hours. Watch it only if you are taking breaks in between if you can’t resist the mobile browsing urge
- Have long entertainments such as movies, drinks, group chats only on weekend
- Keep time slot for following on daily basis -
Stretch /exercise on daily basis — several apps to guide where you need only few minutes a day
Practice breathing exercise, meditation etc. — again several app available in the market and it takes only few minutes a day
Learning — stay aggressive on learning plan in acquiring new skills. There is no further room to stay in your comfort zone in upcoming times.
Connections- For instance, this might be the best phase to break the ice with connections you haven’t been in touch for long.
Reading -Even if you don’t have the habit you may initially start with 10–20 pages regularly. Along with learning new perspectives, it definitely takes away the negative emotions and helps in sleeping better.
I appreciate your time to go through my thoughts which might bring a fresh perspective. Please do message me if you think of pouring more ideas.
Hope and wish you all stay safe, healthy, wealthy and occupied.
Cheers
Prashant
