Over the past few weeks, we have experienced a world that we never even thought of. This is a compilation of my thoughts drawn from the questions that I addressed during our town halls with fellow Napierites. My sincere hope is that it will be helpful to some of you and may even bring a smile to your face.
Let’s start a conversation by adding comments or ideas that might be useful to others. Finally, to show support to our fellow healthcare professionals and the wider humanity, I would like you to simply comment with a “clap” on this article.
- WFH (Work-From-Home) has triggered a fundamental shift in the way one approaches the start and end of work. It is important to recognise these causal factors and make appropriate changes.
- Be Physically active: I would encourage all of you to do some stretches every day and when it is a run – do that early (6 am) so that you still adhere to social distancing. I hardly meet one or two people on my early morning runs!
See the Sun: For many people not being outdoors can get depressing. The sun is a source of vitality and cheer for me. Every morning, I spend some time in the balcony to get that critical exposure to the sun – just have my morning tea and simply gaze at the sky.
- Be Patient: As a family, you will be seeing a lot more of each other these days. Mostly it will be good, yet it is important to recognise that some frictions will arise inevitably. While it takes time, a higher degree of patience with the spouse and other family members usually develops to restore the equilibrium. Be patient.
Professionally, you will find that things will get better in many areas while others are may still be “work-in-progress”. It is defining those boundaries, between life and work in the same room, that takes some effort and a trial-and-error approach.
- Recognise need for change: WFH has been a new experience as previously many of us seldom did that for protracted periods of time. This new way of working, that too every day from home, has both: pros and cons. This calls for conscious change management by recognising this new “way” of working.
- Have a break: WFH increases productivity as the time to commute is no longer needed. Even lunch breaks are shorter as one doesn’t need to walk and wait in the queue. However, ensure that you give yourself enough break/s between meetings to just clear your mind and walk around a bit.
- Consciously separate work & life: Have you felt the need for a sharply defined Work – Life separation? Few days will go by without noticing when work ended, or life began. As for me, I started wearing office clothes to mentally tell myself that work had started, and it ended with shutting the laptop in the evening – just as one would do when leaving office.
My focus in our business is to take stock of the “new normal” when it arises. As managers you will all need to ask these questions: What will the “new” business world look like? How would people work? What will be your new definition of success? As for us, we are doing a few things:
- Revenue focus: Helping set up Napier Telemedicine or Virtual Clinics in hospitals for customers. In these difficult times, being in the Healthcare industry gives us a chance to support the community using innovative technology.
- Setting the house in order: Strengthening the organisation by accelerating internal initiatives at this time is a priority – so that we can execute strongly when the economy recovers. Addressing issues that were put on the back burner drives our agenda in meetings these days.
- Celebrate good things: Organising video conferences to celebrate milestones, both internal and external are an ongoing activity for HR. True, we have changed the format of these events, but the mood is still celebratory for sure!
Overall, I feel that it takes about a week or 10 days to adjust to this new way of doing things. To be happy with things as they are and not reminisce about what is missing will give us all a peace of mind that we badly need. It has worked for me and I’m sure it will work for you too. Good luck and best wishes as you start your new week.
Graphic attributions: Photo by Kevin Bhagat on Unsplash
