I am from the hotel industry which has been  people-centric from time immemorial; I could never imagine Work From Home for this industry. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, we are exposed to many challenges and to deal with them we all are required to be keeping ourselves away from groups, in certain countries entire cities are locked down. When you are going through such times you are exposed to many new concerns. I live in a city where we are advised to WFM as a precaution and our organisation has been taking care of our people really well for which we all have a great sense of gratitude. Last two days I have been on WFH mode, for some industries and certain jobs it’s no big deal at all. But for professions like mine- I am a college professor and a trainer it is completely a new ball game.  We haven’t ever worked from home; its a new experience and these two days have been like a clean slate that was waiting to be filled in. I have worked on some pointers for WFM for a first timer; this might come handy for all those who are new to this inevitable concept at the moment. Who knows some of these may end up becoming the way forward as they say, ‘Necessity is the mother of all inventions’! These guidelines will help build the discipline required for WFH.

Work from home guidelines 

1. Wake up at the same time as a normal work day.
2. Go for a 30 minutes’ walk (or whatever is your travel time to work )
3. Be ready at your reporting time at work, dressed up in comfortable clothing, need not be office formals.
4. Go through all office communication and plan your day.
5. Keep diary notes and to do list
6. Take breaks during the office break times- tea, smoke, lunch etc.
7. Carry out your to do list.
8. If there isn’t anything left on it, use your time to read, update yourself on your area of work/ expertise.
9. Be available on phone, online for any work related communication.
10. Develop training modules if you have a team working under you, this will help you once you go back to office; it could be just a briefing but log all points.
11. If you are a senior manager conduct research that’ll help your core function and your organisation.
12. Log off and get out of work mode the moment it’s time for your office to close.
13. Be mindful of your safety and that of others around you.
14. Share your takeaways and lessons learnt during WFH when you report back to work; probably in a meeting.
15. Be grateful to the organisation for taking care of you.

Remember it’s not a holiday but time for you to function innovatively.

Use innovative online tools/ media for communication and learning. Social media can be put to good use by all in their respective roles and functions.

PS  Picture is taken from Google with due credits.