Work from home (WFH), Corporate World’s New Norm?

Challenges from Work from Home (WFH)

Who ever have thought that we would encounter the CORONA VIRUS pandemic? Many have lost their job. Some made the abrupt shift to working from home by their companies. The future looks uncertain. We do not know when, or if, our societies might return to normal – or what kind of scars the pandemic will leave. Because of this, almost all corporations are forced to manage a work from home policy to practice social distancing.

I, myself, have experienced WFH for four months before I retired in July 2020. I realized that most companies are not yet fully prepared for this kind of disaster. There may be a defined disaster recovery procedure or DRP, but it seems so different when it comes to reality. Before, I thought it was nice and ideal to work from home. From my experience, I have listed the following disadvantages that are also encountered by some of the employees who are working from home as mandated by some of the corporate world.

· Extended working hours - it always happens especially when there is a report that you need to provide that will come from other people in the team.

· Internet connection – slow or data consuming.

· No face to face interaction that helps in building the relationships.

. Cannot concentrate to work due to some household chores or errands that need to attend to immediately.

· Access to the system is very limited, thus there is a tendency for becoming less productive especially if the work is very much dependent onsite.

· More tasks or accomplishments are expected from you.

· Some files are not available.

· Email restrictions.

· The issue of productivity and efficiency.

· The workplace is sometimes not conducive due to limited space in the house.

· Electric consumption is higher.

· Defective laptop/charger – I really did not know how I was able to overcome this kind of problem. It is good that I can sometimes borrow my daughter’s laptop and charger.

But among these, the greatest challenge that the corporate world and workers are encountering, and even other businesses or laborers is the fact that they cannot totally work from home due to poverty and other reasons.

The companies should do the following suggestions to overcome the issues and challenges above:

1. Prioritize the setup or installation for work from home environment including the machine, laptop, gadgets etc.

2. Define and document the procedures or instructions in disaster recovery procedure.

3. Provide or allot allowance for internet service provider.

4. Define proper security or assign centralized department that will define all the IDs needed for access which are tailored for different functions.

5. Set ground rules for virtual meetings and working hours or schedule.

6. Trust and belongingness should also be felt and practiced.

7. There should be a centralized repository of working files within the team or group.

8. Modify KPIs and/or working arrangements.

9. Always have a backup plan.

For the employee side:

1. Set aside professional and personal work, set timing for specific tasks.

2. Track progress and productive hours.

3. Designate a workspace.

4. Maintain work connections.

5. Always have a backup plan like enrolling in Freelancing Virtual Assistance courses.

The pandemic made me decide to retire and opened my world in the world of virtualization. I already have heard of it but not actually serious about it. Maybe because of time I spent in the office and travel made me exhausted, thus untimely retirement happened. I used my backup plan which is to enroll in Filipino Virtual Assistance to learn the different freelancing courses that will keep me going. There are several courses that you can choose from in order to overcome these challenges in case you are already fed up from the corporate world. Me at the age of 55, I do not want to stop from learning. Being a Virtual Assistant will fulfill my dream to earn while serving the people. I can say it is totally a different world, being into corporate to WFH and being a virtual assistant.

For queries on Virtual Assistance, you may email me at grosalie65@gmail.com and for the Virtual Assistance courses login to https://www.fvaconsultancy.com.

Thank you very much!