Homeworking is here

If COVID-19 is doing one thing (that's apart from scaring the crap out of most of the world and showing even more evidence that Mr. Trump is simply unfit to be POTUS) it is to change the way we do things.

Some of the changes may be relatively small.  Will we still be using an elbow bump greeting in a years' time or go back to the old favourites of shaking hands and hugging or kissing cheeks (a la Francais or Polski)?  What about thoroughly washing our hands with soap and hot water while singing "Happy Birthday to you" in its entirety twice as a timer, multiple times a day, whether after a toilet visit or not?  I doubt it.  Emptying supermarket shelves of toilet rolls in a mass panic buy?  I bloody hope not!

But other changes may turn out to be more fundamental.  Take "Working from home".  It's been around for a few years now, notably in the tech and consultancy industries, where the tools needed (a decent laptop and internet connection and top level web security provided, video conferencing and peer-to-peer voice calls via your device, the ability for teams to collaberate remotely in document edits etc) were developed and passed on to the casual web surfer.  I've done it myself countless times over the years, in my software consultancy days where "working from home" was sometimes a euphemism for "taking a day off" (a bit like its more officlal term "On the Bench").  Others called it simply Skiving.  Mostly, some time would indeed be spent working, if checking your mailbox and replying to the odd missive, and completing your expenses for the last trip can be considered work.  There were also, increasingly, home-working days when a lot of genuinely profitable stuff was accomplished: systems updated and re-configured, documentation like code specifications, business requirements and training materials written and/or edited, and customer problems solved and documented.

Increasingly, this has been the way forward, and many tech companies, my old one included, happily saved huge costs by closing down or reducing in size expensive office space as a result.  It meant you could work for a company and continue to live somewhere totally different - a different town, sometimes a different country, and still contribute just as efficiently.  When I first started at my old company I was based in central London and endured a two hour or more commute from the Home Counties to and from the office every day (at least, when not on site).  More experienced colleagues, still on the London payroll, lived and "worked from home" from locations as far flung as Edinburgh, Cardiff, Dublin and Malaga.  You wouldn't see them from one year end to the next, but they were still part of the same team.

It wasn't - and isn't - always easy.  In my case, "working from home" meant effectively shutting myself away in the bedroom, my laptop balanced precariously on my knees, trying to ignore the distractions of my kids playing and wanting to show me stuff, or the washing machine or hoover going as my Beloved continued with the daily chores.  Shutting the door was not a solution, since it invariably interfered with my vital wifi connection.  The constant traffic flow outside the window didn't help either. But I managed - and continue to do so now, in my retirement where work like this Blog is as much a hobby, and distractions less important (indeed often welcome).

COVID is making the whole "working from home" ethic increasingly popular - indeed, necessary -  and moving it away from the tech area into other walks of life.  At least in (I hesitate to use the term but can't think of a better one...) civilized countries, the majority of people who have office jobs, in accountancy, sales, stock control, the legal profession and other services, architecture, design and many others, are all IT savvy with home computers or laptops, internet connection through their sattelite tv provider, printers and so on, and therefore possess most of the tools to work as well as leisure surf.   It's thus a small step for the employers to provide the additional tools - the security and productivity software and access to the company network (as opposed to a public network) - and hey, presto! Who needs office space? 

This is all good in my view, provided it's thought through properly and not taken as a kneejerk reaction to an admittedly awful situation such we are now experiencing.  There have been many articles in the press highlighting some of the issues new home workers will face, from making sure your new workspace is comfortable and well designed, to making sure you stay in touch with your work colleagues by regular Skype calls or whatever, and both you and your boss have an agreed set of goals and targets - i.e. a proper work plan - and maintain regular contact to review and adjust it as needed. 

It's all very sensible if not always achievable.  For instance, a majot recommendation is you use a table to work at with a comfortable chair.  I'll buy that - but in a smal flat like mine there is simply not the space to do that, as I found out.  I tried using a table in a corner of my bedroom (I brought it in from balcony with a matching chair, they were garden furniture) and it was ok until you needed to get to the wardrobe......  Working behind a closed door was also challenging as that disrupted my wifi connection (I lost count of the number of times I had to open the door and re-connect some days, and suffered dropped Skype conference calls on a regular basis). 

But it seems to me that if this COVID situation continues for a period of months - as seems increasingly likely - then more and more people will be placed in a work from home situation and will no doubt become accustomed to it, as I have.  Sitting in a comfortable IKEA rocker with some decent music in the background (today some Absolute Classic Rock fm - terrific station - , maybe later a little Classic fm) is much more enjoyable than a crowded and noisy office to my mind.  It could also have a positive health benefit too: reducing the amount of commuting stress, for a start, perhaps reduced levels of pollution as traffic decreases, fewer contacts with disease-carrying colleagues and total strangers sneezing over you in crowded trains and buses....

Time will tell, I suppose.