Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed his concerns regarding the health of employees that are now working from home. He said that this form of lifestyle may lead to mental health issues and take a major hit on social interactions. While the Indian-origin CEO expressed his views, the opinions and decisions of other technology giants have been different.
A lot of companies are considering permitting work from home for employees indefinitely. Twitter announced a while back that it will be allowing its employees to work from home ‘forever’. Google, too, has allowed work from home for its employees but only until 2021. Following Twitter’s lead in this permanent decision, Square, a payments based company in San Francisco, has too allowed its employees to work from home hereafter.
At the moment, only a part of the total workforce is allowed to work from the office to maintain the social distancing protocols. This arrangement has proved to very expensive for business owners as they are paying rent for the software parks and office spaces. The future after COVID-19 is also very uncertain which has got businesses thinking more along the lines of keeping their employees safe.
Read: Remote Work: Engage and Retain Your Employees By Boosting Their Morale
Permanent work from home solution comes with its own set of pros and cons. As Nadella correctly pointed out that it would hamper with our social interactions, one can’t neglect how useful technology has been to smoothen this process. With the help of digital tools, a lot of companies have been able to manage well working from home.
The future of this business model might be permanent and we must be prepared for it.
Here is how you can get ready for a permanent remote working situation:
Set up a working space at home
Just like how you have an assigned desk at your office, you need to physically assign a place for yourself at home as well. This will help you mentally get into the mood of working when you are in your “workplace”.
Read more: Covid-19: Here Is How To Set Up A Home Work Station
Better internet connection
If you are facing trouble with the internet at home, then you must look into your broadband package and change it to suit your requirements. If this becomes a permanent feature then your office will be looking after some internet costs and helping you to set up a decent connectivity infrastructure.
Work-life balance
When you leave the office and commute back home, you automatically look forward to your home activities. However, now that you are working from home, this may seem difficult. There will be times you won’t be able to get into ‘work’ mode easily or stop working after office hours. This is something you should learn to differentiate and hence, creating a work station will help you manage the balance.
Read: Working from Home Because of COVID-19? These Tools Will Boost Your Productivity!
Use the right devices
Based on the nature of your job, identify what kind of devices are essential for you to perform your tasks in time. Either your company would already give them to you or you could request for some relevant and affordable devices and equipment that can help you work just as efficiently as you did when you were in office.
COVID-19 has changed workplaces forever…
Social distancing becoming the new normal has made it impossible for businesses to operate in full capacity while ensuring safety. This may have a significant impact on people’s minds and also psychological changes. One must not forget to virtually stay connected with their friends and families during this pandemic.