The Central Government requested India Inc to implement a work from home model in order to ensure business continuity during the nationwide lockdown. This advisory is not favorable for all places of employment, however, most companies jumped onto the bandwagon with ease. Social distancing and staying at home seem to be the only two ways of limiting the damage that the coronavirus outbreak has been able to cause all across the world. This is indeed an unexpected calamity that the world has seen in a while.
In an article published in The Economic Times on 23rd March 2020, it was stated that as many as 3 million people had already been asked to work from home by their employers to adhere to the social distancing norms laid down by the government in order to deal with this global pandemic. Not many countries, including the US and UK, have been able to contain the spread of the virus. South Korea, Germany and China are the three countries so far that have managed to flatten the curve of new infections. It still is early days to label winners and losers in this fight, but from how things are panning out globally, we can easily say that social distancing is an effective way out.
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The first few companies that sprang into action by asking their employees to start working from home after WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic include Amazon, Wipro, Cognizant, Paytm, Tech Mahindra, and Flipkart among others. The rest have quickly followed suit.
There is a question that needs to be answered when it comes to remote working in India. Why is it so difficult for Indian people to work remotely? Well, there are several reasons. One of the main reasons is that most domestic organizations in India prefer their employees to be present in the office physically to work. The orthodox Indians believe it is not their culture to work from home. But do we see that status quo changing? Probably yes.
It had to take a global crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic to urge organizations to embrace the work from home model that has so many benefits, for both the parties involved. Companies and their employees outside India have been enjoying the benefits that remote working offers for more than a few years now. Globalization means that we have teams that are spread across the world. The technology available to us allows us to work from anywhere at any given point of time. A lot of people throughout the world prefer working from home. Not just because it offers them a chance to be available 24/7 for other teams but also because it is a cost-effective measure for their employers.
There have been studies conducted to measure the productivity of people who work from home and those who go to office. Most, if not all of them, have suggested that people working remotely are more productive and have the freedom of thinking and working at their own pace.
With the current lockdown looming over an extended period of time, it is highly likely that we will find ourselves working remotely for a much longer time. This could make Indian companies realize what has already been proven in other parts of the world – that remote working can maximize productivity. In the current context, it is definitely a way to maintain business continuity. We will see how it works out in the future.
You might also be interested to read: Working From Home During Coronavirus Crisis – Measures To Ensure Productivity
Here are a few things that will help us in turning remote working into a productive, effective mechanism:
- The first thing is to avoid distractions. Well, this isn’t an easy thing to do. When you are at home, you can do anything but focus on work. This is why a lot of people refute even the idea of remote working. You have your family, your phone, a TV, and all the other things to distract you. Live streaming channels have made things worse. So, what can you do to overcome this challenge? You need to find yourself a secluded place to start with. You can’t even think about working with people around. Put on your favourite music if it helps. Or just get to work without wasting any time.
- What is the best way to use your mobile phone when you are working from home? To not use it at all while you are at your work desk. Keep your phone at a place in your home that you don’t have easy access to. Use your phone only after completing a task. Make your important calls right before you start working. But never switch the device off. It won’t help in case your colleagues try to reach you.
- Manage your time. Divide your time in a way that you find enough time for your work, family, and entertainment. Try to start early so that you can complete the day’s work early. This will leave you enough time for other important things. Also, make sure you don’t skip your meals. Work is important and so is your health. Keep yourself fit.
- Staying at home and working from home could be emotionally and mentally draining as well. Don’t let your mind wander. Meditation and yoga are very good ways of keeping your emotional and wellbeing in check. You need to see this situation with a positive outlook, to make sense of anything that you are required to do because of it.
These are a few important things you need to keep in mind when working from home. Now, it is early days to talk about whether or not work from home could be the future of work. It is a necessity now. It will be interesting to see whether work from home will become a norm for companies, especially in India, in the future.
Reference: “Coronavirus crisis may fast-forward IT’s work-from-home adoption” by Priyanka Sangani on 23rd March 2020
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