Team-BHP - Will home-office become more popular, even after the virus goes?

Related thread - Working from home? Show us your home office

A lot of us are working from home these days. However, will companies think about continuing WFH going forward? Will they see the cost / productivity advantages and incorporate a full / partial WFH for all or insist of reporting to the office? Ofcourse, this is won't be possible for factories, doctors, and many other professions, etc. but what about those that can work from home?

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The lockdown announced by the government to contain the spread of coronavirus has forced employees to work from homes (WFH) for about three weeks now. This new normal might just become a standard practice, at least for some employees even after the Covid-19 situation is resolved.

About two-thirds of the 4.3 million ITBPO workforce across the country have moved to a work-from-home model to keep services uninterrupted during the lockdown. Experts say some companies are likely to move to WFH permanently.

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Other big reasons why India Inc is seriously considering WFH as a new constant is because it involves cost savings, convenience and productivity gains, if implemented correctly. Outside Mumbai's central business districts, a barebones office space that can seat 500 people can cost `10 crore in annual rent, which is 2 lakh per employee. Then comes the cost of staff transportation, air-conditioning and ventilation, furnishing and cafeteria.

Not all companies, however, are gungho about WFH. At least the heads of two of the largest technology services players in the country have flagged up an issue.

The CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services, Rajesh Gopinathan, highlighted the need to restrict WFH for those who support critical and confidential functions of global clients. On a LinkedIn post, he said: "We power financial backbones of several countries, support some of the largest healthcare and pharmacy companies in the world, run technology for governments and public services organisations." Infosys' CEO Salil Parekh also shared a similar concern, adding that "we continue to be guided by advisories from local governments in the 46 countries we operate in."

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The absence of water cooler conversations, impromptu meetings and cafeteria discussions with colleagues could impact productivity. "We want to make sure we don't lose the human touch," says Manish Dalal, managing director, Asia Pacific, Endurance International Group, a web hosting company. "People need to meet to brainstorm. How do I create virtual mentoring sessions and imbibe company culture among people who are at home?" A way out is to have employees come to office a few times every, say, fortnight. At Endurance, 700 employees are working from home at present.

There could be challenges on the home front also. Many employees may not have a spare room at home for longterm WFH. Or, millennials living in paying guest-type accommodations may not have the space or freedom to install the required infrastructure, such as a broadband line or a power back-up system.

Will home-office become more popular, even after the virus goes?-gfx.png

Work from home will certainly be a part of work culture in the IT/BPO and back-office departments for at least a few months more, and may continue in some way or form for the rest of the year, it was anyway happening even before the Covid scare. As and when clarity is received on the virus situation and as and when companies can see the results (both good and bad) of a majority WFH situation, further recourse and revision might take place.

As far as the tangible business world is concerned like transport, branch banking, retail, service industries, education etc, they will carry on as usual once the coast is clear of the virus.

Personally, I wouldn't endorse WFH even though it's more convenient and eco-friendly, because interpersonal exhanges, reviews, meetings and watercooler brainstorming are an integral part of working life. Working from home as I'm seeing it, has caused people to just set-up office anywhere, balconies, lobbies, terraces etc, donning baniyans and naada underwear, with a week old stubble looking very depressed and bored beyond belief stupid: The cubicle creates a discipline and regimen in people that they themselves crave.

Going forth though, WFH will be integrated into work culture but it might be project based, or optional or subject to review every now and then. How much of information technology/back-office sector will choose to remain in India given the current condition of American economy is a whole other question.

I do hope more companies will start offering and standardize WFH options. I recently changed jobs and one of my criteria/negotiation was/is to have at least 2 days WFH! It's a massive waste of time and resources to commute back and forth.

That way I would still have all the official face-to-face / ad-hoc meetings / cafeteria conversations / tasting home food from many kitchens / focused learning on various tech and non-tech topics / etc.

Additionally, I think, the idea of an occasional lockdown might do really good for the environment! Say, one or more weekends a month. Of course, I have no idea what the cost would be for such lockdowns, but the benefits do appear to be immense - ozone holes plugging up; cleaner air and concomitant medical benefits; etc.

Not everyone works with or in co-located teams - half my team isn't India-based, and only two of my peers from my boss' team are here - so working daily with someone I don't share a water-cooler with is nothing new. I'm not an exception either.

Working location is not a one-size-fits-all solution, never has been and doesn't have to be. There's plenty of bandwidth on the scale to form solutions that work for different individuals and teams. What the current situation has done is provide a large-scale live test that most organizations may not have conducted of their own volition, so now decisions can be made on objective information instead of guesswork, cultural assumptions and individual biases.

Plenty of creative solutions will emerge from this, and most probably won't swing to either extreme. It's not just about where one sits while working, this will redefine connected workplaces and teams.

Our offices also do provide a lot of employment indirectly - and if a sizable number of companies switch to the WFH model, there will be a spike in unemployment IMO and after the current slowdown, that would be really bad. I am talking office kitchen/cleaning staff, security guards, building maintenance, cab drivers, lunch suppliers, etc.

I am hoping that people manager's become a little more open to the idea of WFH and employees after this forced WFH, can differentiate between using and abusing WFH.

I am curious though whether this would also lead to more freelance/contractor opportunities. If everything goes virtual and I can hire someone in any part of the world without having to worry about visas and having a registered office, will I not?

I have been working 50% of my time from home, since 10 years. So Covid-19 didn't really affect how I usually work, since I am well setup to work from home. I realise it is very new for lot of people, especially because they don't have the right chair or table or the WFH environment. The chat/phone/video-conf has really reduced the need to meet people in person. Folks still want to do it because they are used to it.

It requires a different mind set, for both the worker and the manager who is supervising. The WFH worker must be both empowered and responsible. His or her work must be measured by results and not by the amount of time they warm their seat. Trust becomes very important. I can understand why companies like TCS/Infy will find it difficult, they are not in the habit of trusting their employees. But even in TCS, I know there are people who work primarily from home, when their work is measured by results.

There are situations were face-to-face is a good idea. But that is not required every day. Meeting once a week or month is good enough most of the time.

I am afraid if my organisation will continue with long term work from home option.
There are several reasons. One of them is engaging the employees for higher purpose.

I do feel our work can be done remotely.
The productivity is better at home especially in evening if the job demands to stay late.

In a nutshell, it depends on the individual and environment at home or office.
Some face challenges at home whilst some are less productive at office.
Choosing long term WFH should be given to employee.
Results can be monitored by supervisors to continue the telecommute or not. If micro managers are reading it, please don’t tag and judge your employee on available time of Skype.

To Answer the question: Yes, it will.
There are tweaks planned as I learn what is required to be efficient and productive at home

Work From Home maturity and culture is still evolving in India on a larger scale.

Yes, there are companies and teams that are distributed, virtual and have been practicing it for a few years and they're successful. And there are others still testing the waters in some ways.

What I've found is that if the job involves working with a team (co-located or distributed) and needs coordination amongst team members on a daily basis, co-location works very well (at least co-location of all team members in one city at a central office space helps in these scenarios). Also, in these teams, exceptions like a few team members working one or two days from home is easily manageable, but it doesn't scale easily when more team members or the entire team works from home. This is where the maturity of the culture/discipline comes in - Flexible work hours + Work from home is an almost impossible combination to work with on such teams.

Other exceptions when Work From Home may not be a good option could be when someone is new to the organization, new teams formed to execute a project. Once the team dynamics are in place and they are comfortable (past the forming, storming, norming stages) then it becomes easier to work remotely, not necessarily just from home.

On the positive side, the whole lockdown scenario in India has been handled quite well by most organizations including those that weren't traditionally receptive to the idea of work from home. The employees also have played their part and have scaled up to meet challenges of work from home from a collaboration/communication/coordination perspective. Yes, it does feel like an overhead sometimes compared with co-located teams seated in an office environment, but we can iron out those kinks soon and make it work like a well oiled machine :)

Productivity certainly seems to be bolstered by WFH, per the following studies:
https://www.airtasker.com/blog/the-b...ing-from-home/
https://nbloom.people.stanford.edu/s...4746/f/wfh.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...67268112000893 (Per this study, clerical tasks seem to be negatively affected though. Makes sense, since other more personal clerical tasks rather than those from work would probably take precedent).

I think this pandemic has proven it COULD be done, and research shows it SHOULD be done, so perhaps it will be done.

(I have some concerns about work life intruding on personal life, though.)

Some organizations may continue to encourage WFH even after the situation is over – firstly many the employees would have got tuned to this option, and secondly it is a saving for the company as well (infrastructure and office space).

I always had the option of work from home as and when needed, but now will be looking forward to get back to the office routine once the situation eases out. The direct people interaction is something very important for me and definitely will miss the daily coffee fix with the team :)

I am on full-WFH starting tomorrow, and as of now the schedule here in Singapore is until 4th of May.

Even if the lock down is lifted on April 15th, 30th, whenever, I'm going to continue working from home, avoid public spaces and transport, and practice social distancing for a few weeks beyond. Only difference will be that I will certainly go for runs and long drives/rides (once the government allows it, of course).

Long-term, I'd like to continue working from home. Yeah it's a bit boring and yeah I miss meeting people at work. But I haven't forgotten Bellandur traffic that fast! Obviously this Covid-19 situation is a lot more serious and immediate. But dealing with that traffic and pollution for a couple of hours a day is also a definite threat to my health in the long run. I'd like to minimize that as well, especially since this month has proved beyond all doubt that I can do my particular job as efficiently sitting anywhere with a reliable Internet connection. Let's see how it goes.