WFH Is (Not) Forever Now...
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
“The world has changed!”
”The old order is out!”
”Things will never go back to the way they were!”
There’s no shortage of pronouncements about how the coronavirus has fundamentally changed the way we live, work and play. No more cruises, no more constant flying, no more of the large scale social gatherings that we’ve become so accustomed to. It’s (apparently) a whole new world out there.
And so it goes with Working From Home (WFH).
Spend a bit of time on any of the business news channels and there are vehement assertions that we’re not going back to our offices, that physical downtown commercial real estate is going to go into a permanent freefall, that our homes will become our prime work locations. Put all of your investment funds into companies that fuel the WFH infrastructure because that is our new future.
Can we just ratchet that back a little?
The thing is, in times of radical change, it’s tempting to make grand pronouncements about the way we’ve changed, to think that this is how it will always be. We get caught up in the intensity of the moment to suggest that this is our new permanence.
And I do think some things will change. I, for one, have always disliked the notion of WFH - I personally never found it to be a productive option. I didn’t think I could focus enough, or demarcate my “work time” from “home time” plus I enjoyed the social aspects of working with others. That said, I’ve found a path forward - forced to find it - and am now far more comfortable with the idea and the practice. I’ve carved out a separate, private space to be able to WFH (I recognize I’m lucky to be able to do so), I am much more diligent about structuring my time so work doesn’t run on endlessly, and I organize virtual, video coffee hours with my team. It’s been working well and I’ve been pretty productive as we’ve settled into this lockdown.
That said, it isn’t the same - and that’s exactly my point. I still like the physical separation of work from home. I like working in close proximity with others, to be able to have a quick chat, or bounce an idea off of someone. I like the motivation that comes with being “in the trenches” and on a mission with folks who are there (physically) with you. Yes, plenty of this is achievable through the virtual realm, but it still isn’t the same. I don’t know if you feel this way, but I certainly do. Especially when we’re on a collective mission.
In addition, as a human race, I’m not so sure we have such long lasting and permanent memories. Yes, there is some residual scar tissue that remains after any material event - recall the lingering frugality in so many of us who lived through the Great Recession of 2008/2009 - but time has a way of fading those memories. Not for everyone, but, I think, for most. And as new generations enter the workplace, they bring with them newer, different - and often polar opposite - views (many times as a reaction to the current norms).
So, yes, I do think things have changed. I think we will come out of all this with some adjusted perspectives and a greater appreciation of the remote, virtual environment. I’m just not ready to make bold predictions of the permanence of these changes.
