Work from Home Survival Tips

1. Work from Home Survival Tips Covid19, a global crisis has adversely impacted businesses across verticals. However, there is one industry which due to its nature has been able to minimize the impact and that is …the IT Industry. Work-From-Home or WFH as it is popularly referred to, has been perceived as a golden weapon by many industries. But for those of us in IT, WFH has been there long before Covid19. And in these times of restraint and lockdowns WFH is enabling IT people to work from the safety of their homes, on their laptops/PC, so that work goes on and the business is least impacted. It has proven to be godsend for the IT industry as a whole and particularly for smaller firms, as they grapple with the resulting slowdown. I am the System Administrator at Synsoft Global, a reputed IT company, now successfully working from home through this lockdown. Leading the Network team at Synsoft, it is my responsibility to enable my colleagues including the entire team of developers, designers, Quality Analysts, Business Developers to work seamlessly from their homes. Here is my story of how it started, and how we managed to facilitate working from home. We faced challenges mostly during setup but went on to experience minor issues even later. It did make us realize the downsides of working from home, but at the same time we had achieved at least 80% efficiency in the 1st week.

2. As soon as WHO declared Covid19 a pandemic on 11th March, our company’s management proactively held a meeting and asked me to form a strategy on how we will be able to work remotely in a forthcoming lockdown which seemed soon and certain. Although WFH is a widely practiced format in our industry it was not common in our organization. As nothing is perfect, WFH also has its downsides… Primarily, the productivity of work while working remotely can never match that of working in the office premises especially if you are a team. Although communication channels like Slack, WhatsApp, Skype and Zoom have enhanced proximity, yet, what personal meetups bring to the table are a personal touch, facial expressions, body language, even a tap on the back, and a lot more that is perhaps difficult to pen, but I am sure everyone understands. Another factor that is often hampered is seamless working, and continuity that can often get hindered due to some network issue or Internet speed. It is also difficult to concentrate on work with family members, especially small kids around. You need to be disciplined enough to isolate yourself during work hours. Not to mention #WFH in a lockdown is far more restraining. I would sum up by saying that it has been a great learning experience and I take a lot of pride in a sense that we quickly got ourselves ready for this lockdown situation in advance and hence avoided a big mess. This is my WFH story…!! What’s yours? Synsoft Global 403/404, Airen Heights, Scheme 54, A. B. Road, Indore 452010 (MP), India