Managing work life balance in the COVID Era
The outbreak of Covid-19 sent the world into a tailspin. Everything changed, for all of us. As our offices closed during the first stages of Circuit Breaker measures, we watched our everyday lives crumble, and we slowly but surely made our move into makeshift offices securely tucked away in the privacy of our own homes. When the Universities, schools and kindergartens closed, the confines of my particular home office grew closer. As a full time worker, full time student, and full time mother, here are some of the valuable lessons I have learned while working from home, while managing work life balance.
As an employee of TalentKraft, I experienced the implemented measures first hand, and a little earlier than my peers. The founders of TalentKraft sensed the immediate need for safe distancing early on, and proceeded to implement Work From Home regulations on March 17th 2020, almost 20 days before many other Singapore companies.
In the early stages of working from home, I clearly remember feeling frustrated, confused and anxious. Maintaining a work life balance while working from home can be challenging for everybody, especially the inexperienced. First off, when working from home, procrastination can quickly become the name of the game. One constantly either feels distracted or interrupted by different things, for example, by the constant mess one has surprisingly created for one self by simply sitting still in front of the computer for hours on end. The resulting need to suddenly clean. The constant hunger, and feeling of overeating, which then results in feeling lethargic. I don’t even have to mention Netflix. In addition to these little treats, some of us have the additional challenges introduced by family, may it be parents, siblings, or husband, wife or overactive children.
In addition to dealing with interruptions at home, either imposed or self-induced, my teammates and I became somewhat disengaged from one another, which led to miscommunications, and ultimately, project delays. Not knowing how to efficiently communicate with colleagues online was a surprising discovery. While in the office, it was easy to strike up a conversation asking about a project or inquiring about progress. It was easy to get a sense of who was busy, who was working on which project, who was ready for a new task, and who needed help and extra support. Working from home, it became clear that communication would have to be conducted over a series of email strings, pings over whatsapp, or video conferencing. One can easily feel like an inconvenience during such transition phases, constantly interrupting others.
Overcoming stress while working from home
Working in isolation while struggling to maintain a work life balance can lead to a lag in work output, which ultimately can lead to a distortion in what managers expect from you. The upcoming economic recession and rumours of layoffs did not help matters. As the weeks went by, tensions increased and individual visibility became extremely important. I found myself following a strict schedule. While it is always a good idea to adhere to a schedule, I realised I was overly ambitious in terms of time frames and amount of projects. Soon, my schedule started to affect my free time, family time and sleep. Coping with working from home, while striving to manage a work life balance was a challenge.
TalentKraft really helped the team and I overcome stress by teaching us effective methods to manage our own work and schedules. Two weeks into the Circuit Breaker, my managers had cracked the code of how to manage and support employees forced to work from home. We were encouraged to follow three steps, which would help us best adapt to the new situation of working from home:
Experimenting with new technologies
At TalentKraft, we strive to achieve a high level of agility in our company culture, and we are therefore constantly experimenting with new technologies. Our founders, Eugene and Zanyu, crafted a communication strategy leveraging technology to support us as we, in turn, strived to support each other. The communication strategy consisted of a series of steps, including whole team Zoom meetings, project updates, team check-in’s, and social events, designed to (re)build and strengthen relationships across teams, departments and projects.
For example, every morning, 9:00 AM sharp, we have whole team meetings, where we introduce and discuss our goals for the day, and ask questions or voice any concerns we might have. Having a morning meeting contributes much-needed structure. We also gain virtual face-to-face time with our managers, as well as the opportunity to show and share our accomplishments, and goals for the day or week ahead. Moreover, every Tuesday, we eat lunch over Zoom together, giving us the opportunity to check in with each other on a more personal basis.
Monday.com, our chosen platform for tracking projects, has also helped enormously, as it allows us to create tasks and set deadlines for ourselves, in addition to gaining an overview of our peers projects. Using Monday, we can disaggregate tasks and projects into smaller steps, that we can spread out and solve as we wish. I find that completing smaller tasks keeps motivation up, in addition to providing a clear structure for managers to supervise. Monday also contributes to increased engagement from peers. For instance, if I see a task assigned to a colleague in which I know I can contribute value, then, if my schedule allows, I will reach out, and ask to help.
The new company strategy helped the team get back on track, and eased us into the new normal. It did not take long before we started to become more comfortable with the new way of communicating over Zoom. If we have any questions, we simply email or ping our colleagues over Google Chat. We quickly found a good rhythm, which helped reduce anxiety.
Embracing the new norm
Even before Covid-19, TalentKraft used a 360 degree framework of support for all employees, which became essential when crisis struck. I was able to openly air challenges I faced, either as I progressed in my role and started taking on more responsibility and new projects, or with my tight schedule as a mother, and student. Eugene and Zanyu were very supportive of my various obligations, with balancing University, motherhood and a full time internship. By putting our heads together, they helped me design a schedule where I could easily balance work life responsibilities. The flexibility they afforded me in creating my own schedule, deciding and arranging my own set of priorities, helped me progress in all aspects of my life, which has helped me grow and thrive.
With my new schedule, I could allocate time for breakfast and lunch with my family, and additional playtime with my son. Scheduling these dedicated hours made me feel less guilty, and helped me relax as I felt I could breathe easy, now that I had time and energy left over to spend showering my son with affection. In between play and work, I scheduled time for University projects. I also tried to make sure I spent 30 minutes doing yoga or other types or exercises.
As remote working will inevitably increase, even as regulations start easing post Covid-19, I have learned to embrace the new normal of working from home. It is of course important to plan and design a schedule that suits your particular set of priorities, may they be work, family or University. What I have learned is that a well-planned schedule will lead to a more productive day, and if you are like me, you will find satisfaction in a job well done, which will in turn affect your mood in a positive way.
I feel that the way TalentKraft searched for and used technology to support employees is a great example for other organizations to follow. TalentKraft contributes to develop and build a new way of working, founded on a strong employee-employer culture consisting of trust, transparency and support.
While I began working from home with a less than jolly attitude, I now feel encouraged and motivated for work. While I now feel productive in my home office, I also have one constant reminder that I am in my home office, especially when my son videobombs Zoom meetings in my own version of the famous BBC Dad.
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