With the pandemic waning in the different parts of the world, the inevitable question is staring millions of software employees in the face. Are you ready to go back to the office?
There are multiple articles, news items floating on the internet both in favor and against returning to the old normal of having all the employees in the office. Recently, when Apple sent out a notice to its worldwide employees to return to the office, it caused a commotion. Around 80 or so Apple employees sent an open letter to Tim Cook voicing their concern to return to the office.
Similarly, many other big companies are in the dilemma if they should ask the employees to come back or embrace the new normal. And so are the employees thinking if they are ready to go back to the office or would like to continue working remotely which helps them manage their lives much better.
Well near home, in India, if you asked before pandemic to any company management if India was ready to offer remote working to employees, a majority would have replied in negative. Moreover, in many companies remote working employees were looked on with suspicion by the management and even by their colleagues.
However, after almost 1.5 years, millions of employees of big corporations like Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro, etc. to boutique IT shops all of us have been working remotely and rather well. After the initial hiccup for a month or two, it has been work as usual. In fact, many companies are reporting productivity improvements, and many employees are complaining about long working hours in this remote working model.
If all goes well, in a few months, the same question would be before the Indian IT folks as well to ponder. Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, and the likes aside, you working in that small or big software organization of yours, are you ready to return to the office?
Different people will answer it differently depending on the nature of the work they do in the organization and their style of working, but the biggest question of them all is if you could make it work remotely for around 2 years (or more depending on how many covid waves are pending) then do you really need to go to an office to work?
And if you are facing challenges making up your mind, ask yourself some tough questions, spend some time deliberating the pros and cons and then make up your mind. Below are some questions that could help you make a decision.
- Are you really a team player?- That’s the question you get asked during the interviews and you reply in the affirmative without giving it much thought. But this time think seriously. Do you need a lot of help in your work from people around you or do you spend more time helping others? How many times were you stuck up during the remote working where you needed help and you wished you were in office?
- Has your Productivity fallen during Remote working?- The amount and quality of work that you were able to deliver earlier, has that gone down, remained the same, or increased during remote working? The time saved from the commute and office gossip can definitely help increase productivity but at the same time, distractions at home could bring it down as well.
- Are you a Social Person?- Some people thrive on social connections. They like human interactions every few hours (some every few minutes) to keep them motivated and perform better. Are you one of those people? Or does your work require social interaction and without it your work has been suffering?
- How is your work-life balance?- Pre-pandemic, during the old normal, were you able to balance your work-life properly? Or have you had enough craziness at home and are actually looking forward to getting out of the house? For some people, remote working has been a blessing and they were able to save their relationships, complete some long-pending chores, spend time with their loved ones, etc. bringing the balance back to their life. On the other hand, there are people whose home condition has worsened because of the work and home priorities getting entangled and due to unending office hours.
- What are your current Priorities?- In one of the recent surveys conducted, people were offered a $30K annual increment vs. continued remote working and the majority of the responders actually went in for the remote working flexibility. But at this point in your life, what are your current priorities? For some employees giving more time to their families is more important and for some (like the ones at the initial phase of their careers) moving up the career ladder could seem more important. So being true to yourself about your personal priorities could help to make the decision.
You need to answer these questions (and maybe more) honestly, not to anyone else but yourself. And whatever you decide, make sure you understand the consequence and have the wherewithal to bear it. Sometimes life puts us in different situations and gives us a chance to evaluate how we are leading our lives and if we want to change something. Remote working during the pandemic has provided just that for many of us. Let’s make the best of it.