By Roy Carpenter
Not so long ago, WFH didn't exist, but later it became a nice option
Working from home went from non-existent for office jobs to center-stage overnight. It begs the question. Is working from home a luxury or a curse? I started my Corporate job during a time when employers put heavy emphasis on being “in the office”. Facetime wasn’t an app on your mobile device, it was about being present in the office and others noticing that you were “putting in your time”. When I started-out, I felt guilty if I was taking a 10-minute break to hit the restroom and read a headline in the newspaper on the break room table, or even just grab a coffee. Perhaps it was because I worked in a consulting environment and everyone was focused on “billable time”. If you weren’t billing time, you weren’t making the company money.
Over the last 10+ years or so of my Corporate career, there were more people on my team wanting to work from home (or, WFH was it’s often referenced). In the beginning, it felt a bit odd. Perhaps it was because my frame of reference was coming from my consulting years where the mindset was “if you’re not in the office, you’re not billable.” Such an old-school mindset. In today’s world, pre-Covid, you had to be flexible. Workers from different generations had different work ethic, different ideals, different values, etc. But, different doesn’t mean better or worse. It’s just different.
“Working from home is a dream. Truth be told, I only have to get half-dressed now. Bring on ‘work from home’!”
As I became more experienced, I became more understanding as a manager of my teams needs. I also worked in Connecticut, in an area considered part of the Greater New York region. Traffic was awful and many commuted from different suburbs travelling up to 2 hours each way to the office. I, myself, commuted one to one-and-a-half hours each way, five days a week, for the better part of the last 15 years. When I did have another commitment that would trigger my need to work-from-home I found myself more productive in many ways and able to put in more hours on the job. The relief of not traveling that day was a breath of fresh air. Having a regular WFH schedule would have been a dream, but again, I really didn’t mind the commute and perhaps it was because I was so used to it.
WFH is a MUST now and it is here to STAY
Enter 2020. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year flipped business on its head. It is forcing people to think differently about how they manage the business, how they manage people, and how they plan for the future given all the uncertainty. One thing is for sure, work from home is here to stay. Many companies were forced to make changes (ready or not). Many employees, while concerned about Covid, were met by the prospect of working from home. This put a smile on many people’s faces as it took the drudge of the commute off their backs.
However, it was not just businesses that were impacted by Covid. It is all around us. Schools closed and work from home became instantly more challenging for families with kids in the home. How do two working parents manage the needs of the job and the needs of our children simultaneously? I think most would agree, NOT EASILY. My wife had just started a new job while the pandemic was hitting in March. In fact, her start date was the week after employees were asked to ‘stay home’. In the meantime, I was in the midst of trying to move forward with my entrepreneur plans. What gives? In this case, it was easy to conclude that my plans would need to be a whole lot more flexible to care for our 4-year old and 1-year old daughters.
Well, what an adjustment for this old Dad. After nearly 30 years in the Corporate world, I was Da-da-daddio, full-time. How hard can it be? Answer: Hard. My kids are amazing, but trying to be all put together with an organized plan for the little ones was not simple. While there are likely many, many people that experienced something similar, we all went through an adjustment period. Finding the right balance between activities, variety, yet a sense of routine, and methods to eliminate boredom, was not easy. Perhaps I could have learned a thing or two by reading this article that offers 7 tips on managing during coronavirus (however, not sure the article was published when I needed it in March). Kudos to all the Moms and Dads that made things work in these extraordinary times.
Adjusting for our youth
I realized during this madness that kids need to have something to look forward to. What’s the next cool event: playing soccer outside, making cookies, playing hide-and-seek, even a “visit with Santa“, etc. These things help keep the children focused on what’s going on now and what they can look forward to doing. I had a bit more fun with this as my young ones got back into attending pre-school and daycare. As I was able to begin refocusing on entrepreneurship, I made a video attempting to capture the moment and try to build in some humor for the trying times we live in now.
If you have some funny stories that you can share about managing the “new normal (work & kids) from home” I’d love to hear them. In the meantime, cheers to all the Moms and Dads that made it through a very challenging first half of 2020. Best wishes to all for the back half!