Work: In Person, Virtual or Hybrid?
Towards the end of last year, 2022, I got an email from our CEO saying we should brace up to return back to the office soon. Well, he didn’t say we had to return immediately but that email initiated what was at the time a plan to invite us to utilize our office more often for the purpose it’s meant for. Most companies, including my employer, lean towards the hybrid model where you are at work in person for some days and work remotely on other days.
Covid impacted all of us in no small measure. Almost overnight, offices were shut, stores closed and the world was thrown into so much confusion and panic for 2 straight years and more.
Around November 2021, many businesses were making plans to open again, it felt like a breath of fresh air. Most executives had a comprehensive return-to-work plan for their employees, which was rolled out in some form.
Then we learned about Omicron!
At church, we were planning for our first post-covid Christmas celebration, with beautiful carol rehearsals and a packed line-up of events. Suddenly (apparently from nowhere), we hear of a new Covid variant that was spreading faster than the initial wave.
Will we ever survive this? Lots of people wondered. Offices went back under lock and key and many businesses that had opened up were locked again. For how long? When will this ever end?
In the midst of the back and forth, some businesses appeared to be resilient and didn’t have to close any doors specifically. Why? They had the rare ability (rare at that time) to operate without physical barriers. They had the capability for remote work. The employees didn’t have ID badges and didn’t need to come to the office for tea or coffee. All they needed was an idea of what needed to be achieved and they got busy. In fact, some employees who are night crawlers preferred to complete their deliverables at night; with no problem.
It is 2023 and Covid seems to be behind us already. Yay!?
Here comes the hard part. Many of us have become accustomed to keeping our work tool — PC/Mac on our couch and working ourselves to sleep sometimes at odd hours.
We have also blended new routines like walking our kids to school or picking them up without having to take a 1hr commute to/from work. Our kids love that we’re heavily involved in their lives, even though for many parents, the cleanups and coordination can be tiring, yet endearing.
Now, back to my CEO’s email. This isn’t about whether I have a choice or not. It’s more of… how do I fall back to in-person meetings after hosting hundreds of virtual meetings over the past couple of months? How do I get back to commuting for more than 1hr daily? And oh… how about my kids? Who will pick ’em up while I’m at work? What will they be doing while I’m in the office and getting home late due to traffic delays or bad weather?
Humans are very adaptable, given that we’re very intelligent beings. But this isn’t as appealing as I thought it should be.
Over the next couple of months, I’ll be testing the in-person waters and will see how easy this change is for me. Hopefully, Covid stays far away from our lives forever, and nothing like it ever comes around again.
