After 16 months of seclusion, several cities and countries are going
back to their workspaces, and the question "When will things go back
to normal?" is becoming a regular among conversations everywhere.
What a year ago was the biggest challenge for workers around the world
has become our daily routine, we transformed our home into our office,
learnt to combine our house chores with our work tasks, became experts
using conference calls software, started loving to exchange the suit
for t-shirts and flip flops, slowly embracing the work from home
routine.
Now, as vaccination efforts advance steadily and health institutions
have been able to tame the pandemic, several companies are planning
the return to the offices. Something we expected from the first day we
took our things and headed home for seclusion is now an imminent
reality, and a new question soar "Are we ready to go back?"
Although transitions are part of life, it is normal to be anxious when
facing them. After a global event like no other over the past decades,
what we thought as "normal" may not come back at all, and that is the
first thing we must be aware of. One of the first things we must work
on should be to define what the "new normal" will be, and today we
would like to share some important tips on how to cope with the
return.
After a year of WFH a sudden, massive change could affect us physically and mentally. We suggest you discuss with your employer a gradual reinstatement of the office routine. Companies like Google are defining hybrid models that will shape the way its employees will work not only during the transition but as a permanent strategy. Try to set your pace about this.
By now you are surely used to your WFH routine -if not completely in
love with it-. A full return to the office may be complicated after a
defined routine without the commute time.
You need to help your body and mind to get used to the office routine.
Start by waking up earlier, practice your route to office to see if
there were any changes in your commute time and give the chance to try
alternative transportation options. Elife has
corporate transport solutions
that can adapt to any company size and routes in major markets in the
US and North America.
Social conventions have changed for good, and after months of seeing
your coworkers only through a screen may make us forget about their
health choices. Even when most of them should be vaccinated by now,
perhaps there are some who would like to keep some measures as social
distancing and mask usage. Things that we considered usual as
handshakes and hugs may not be well seen yet, so we suggest you avoid
them.
Tolerance and acceptance should be part of our values, restraining
ourselves from any gossips or toxic work dynamics. After a pandemic
that took hundreds of thousands of lives, we must be empathetic and
humane as we have never been.
Your couple and kids may resent your return to office (even when it
could look like the opposite), mainly because for the last month you
were 24/7 available. Work with them to establish a healthy new
dynamic. Do not use the work as an excuse to leave home chores behind.
As you will be returning to a place where you usually spend mor time
than at home, do not let your family forget they are the most
important part of your life.
About your work team, let them know that you are open to perform any
changes to make the return as worry-free as possible. Do not forget
they went through the same stages of uncertainty and fear as you, and
that way you will be cementing the grounds of a nice, healthy return.
When will things go back to normal? Today, if you are open to embrace the new normal.
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