Working from home and Inclusivity

Most of us are working from home(WFH) these days and given the recent situation, we might need to continue for a few more weeks/months now.There are many articles which give beautiful insights on this.Few of them share the experiences like how the day goes by with family and kids and a few of them share tricks and trades for acing the WFH option.Keeping all this in mind, I was kind of wondering how WFH has affected different categories of people around us and how exactly we can be inclusive by supporting them during this time

The family givers

In my opinion they are the most affected ones.Balancing work and family(sometimes simultaneously) is not an easy task.I was recently speaking to my brother(who has a 7 year old) on how he is dealing with the WFH.He says, and I quote, “Its like you are always working. It is getting difficult to draw a line in between family and work”. Most of our colleagues might be going through this and would be needing our support.A little sense of understanding could go a long way here.Instead of getting cranky about the background noise or kids, it would be better to empathize with them or maybe just lighten their stress levels with some good humor :P

The flying solos:

Party wassupers

They are affected in a quite different way.And they are the lot, who might not receive enough empathy from people.They are hit with problems like food(cooking can be a pain for some since not everyone knows how to cook), household work(this might sound trivial, but believe me, its a nightmare), and the worst of all, loneliness.During quarantine, mind tends to wander a lot and it can lead to countless thoughts.To support them, you could just give them a ring to know how they are doing.Online get-togethers/ games could help as well.

Content introverts

Well, for them not much has changed.They are alone but not very lonely.They would utilize this time to finish a book,develop a hobby or just binge watch a series.The most difficult task might be the household chores or to cook on a daily basis but still, solitude is bliss.

Sharing a routine(things like time for cooking,household chores,playing with kids etc) with a colleague or your team could help everybody and would respect everyone’s time.But do remember that a crying infant or a ringing doorbell might sometimes get the better of this routine.Stepping into the other individual’s shoes and a little empathy could help all of us to have an untroubled journey.

Relish your WFH and stay safe :)