Working from Home: Pros & Cons

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic has forced companies and employees worldwide to turn to a new work model: partial or total telecommuting.

At the beginning of the March quarantine and shelter in place mandates, when most of us had to move our workspaces to our homes, we adapted quickly and without much trouble at all. We did so well in fact, that many tech companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook announced they would consider remote work models indefinitely.

At first glance, telework seemed like the ideal scenario, didn’t it? But, as the months go by and the numbers go up amidst the Coronavirus crisis, which only seems to be getting worse, we can’t help but wonder: Is working from home all that it’s cracked up to be? In the long run, is it really better than going to the office?

Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of doing our work from our own living room.

PRO: Flexibility
Telework allows us to have our own schedule and manage our time. Off-site jobs also give us the possibility to take on other projects, which helps us diversify our income sources and therefore have more professional freedom and autonomy. Online gigs are also a life-saving option for caretakers who have responsibilities at home and couldn’t otherwise make a living. Product Hunt shared a poll that suggested “most people would take a pay cut if it gave them the ability to work remotely.” Other benefits like vacation time, free snacks and 401k packages didn’t seem as crucial as the option to work outside of the office when they needed to.

CON: Communication
One of the downsides of at home work is how more complex it becomes to communicate efficiently. Technical glitches on your Zoom meeting? Wifi weaker than your lower back? Unintended howling performances by your restless beagle?

Seems like a recipe for extra-strength frustration. Not to mention, all of the spontaneous interactions that we miss by only talking to our colleagues on the phone or through a screen when we have a scheduled call. No one actually sets a meeting for small talk. And forget about casual coffee chats on the hallways or lunches that lead to new ideas and successful breakthroughs.
Our 2020 State of Business Communication Report states that “face-to-face communication is the most preferred communication method by employees.”
“It’s important to have people in a room and see body language and read signals that don’t come through a screen,” says OpenExchange’s CEO, Mark Loehr.

PRO: No Commuting
This pro is probably everyone’s favorite. No need to get jolted out of bed at 5 AM by an evil alarm,  shower in a rush to run out the door with our hair wet and our breakfast in our hand, cause we’re already late and horrible rush hour traffic is always on time.

Instead, when working remotely, we wake up, drink our slowly brewed coffee and bam!: We’re ready to work, simply by sitting in front of our laptops. All it requires is for us to look semi professional, from the waist up (pajama bottoms always a must).

No one likes to be stuck on the road for hours every single day or have to take several trains back and forth just to get to their jobs. Working from home not only saves you precious time and money, but also allows you to relax and enjoy your daily rituals and hobbies without the constant torment of a ticking clock.

CON: It Can Get Lonely
The new Covid-19 reality and the scary amount of illness and death it carries with it has shed light on just how important is it for us to stay connected and support each other.

Going to the office every day can be vital to the emotional health of many. Although some enjoy their peace and quiet, thriving within a private environment, there are those who actually need constant human exchange and can feel dangerously down when forced to spend long periods of time in isolation. For them, sharing with their peers and co-workers is the only socializing they get to do.

It is not the same to be locked up in a house with your family than it is to be all by yourself.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll warns that “Nearly half of Americans report the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health,” and more than “1,000 percent increase in calls and texts” was reported by an emergency hotline for people in emotional distress at The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

PRO: Productivity
Through a study, the University of California, Irvine discovered that inside an office, a typical employee is interrupted every 11 minutes, and that it takes around 25 minutes for them to focus back on the task. That is certainly an alarming statistic in terms of just how scattered our office work can be.

When working remotely, we aren’t really exposed to that level of disruption or noise pollution. 
Our home office environment is far more controlled than that of our corporate spaces, which leads to a significant increase in productivity for the individual team member.

One good thing about the lack of social meetings that happen around the office is that at home, we don’t really experience those energy drains as we are usually working by ourselves and can better concentrate on completing our tasks.

CON: Performance
Productivity may be higher when telecommuting but actual performance may suffer. This is true especially for workers who started their job off site and didn’t have a chance to experience the face to face dynamics of the company. Young professionals depend on being able to watch their mentors perform to learn the tricks of the trade.  

“I am concerned that we would somehow believe that we can basically take kids from college, put them in front of Zoom, and think that three years from now, they’ll be every bit as productive as they would have had they had the personal interaction,” says Ronald Kruszewski, CEO at Stifle Financial Corp.

Training new employees is also challenging when all you have is a camera and a screen. Working alongside your colleagues allows you to make choices together and help each other grow. In other words, team work can be less powerful and more time consuming when members are far and away. 

PRO: Work/ Life Balance
The most intuitive perk of working outside of the office is the opportunity to better juggle our personal and professional selves. Our demanding jobs, as rewarding as they may be, also keep us away from our friends and families for longer than we would want. How many birthdays, anniversaries, school recitals and even everyday dinners have we missed because we got stuck in some meeting (that should have been an email) or prepping for a presentation?

Remote work can allow us to spend more time with our loved ones. Still, balancing our careers and our relationships, especially the one we have with ourselves, is perhaps the hardest part of success.   

CON: Unplugging
And after a long, tedious telework shift, all we have to do is close our laptops, crawl to the couch (which is literally a few feet away) and call it a day. But do we, really?

When we work from home, it can actually be harder to stick to a regular schedule that when we’re in the office. There is no 5 PM school bell ringing inside our houses to remind us that we’re done for today and shall continue tomorrow, and we can’t see all of our co-workers packing up for the night and running to the closest Happy Hour bar.
Instead, we apparently get sucked into a Las Vegas-type situation where we forget to check what time it is or if the sun is still out, because it is easier to just keep going from right there were we’re sitting.
This behavior may end up being more harmful than we think as it counteracts so many of the benefits of working remotely.

So the question remains: To home, or not to home?

We have learned there is no easy answer.  All we know is we haven’t found a one-work-fits-all solution that suits every company and employee across the board. Some may determine that “home is where the work is” and others will emphatically prefer an in-person scenario. Many may even adhere to a hybrid version, conveniently alternating between home and office as needed.

Like most matters, it will be up to each individual and organization to decide what works best for them and more so, if they want to stay afloat during this challenging time. What we can all agree on is that, regardless of where we are, our top priority is and always will be to protect each other’s health and integrity, through the present health emergency and beyond.  

Written by Kika Pérez for UOF Editorial 
Sources: Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Nextiva Blog 

La Creatividad es la Cura

Diseño: Marco Trezza

Por: Marco Trezza
Edición: Kika Pérez

Una de las actividades más afectadas a nivel mundial por la pandemia del Covid-19 ha sido el trabajo en las oficinas.  Luego de tres meses de confinamiento en todo el planeta y los consecuentes cambios en las actividades laborales, hemos quedado un poco desorientados en cuánto a cómo lucirá nuestro futuro profesional.

¿Seguirá reinando el concepto del tele-trabajo? ¿Qué pasará con las oficinas y sus dinámicas? ¿Cómo evolucionará la vida profesional mientras tengamos que seguir tomando medidas extremas de higiene y salud? Los nuevos paradigmas para ejecutivos se establecerán en el tiempo, pero sin duda, las soluciones serán las que logren combinar seguridad y comodidad. 

En los últimos años, hemos visto una tendencia a alejarnos de las normas de etiqueta y protocolo que solíamos seguir. Ahora, nos guiamos más por lo intuitivo porque entendimos que la comodidad está directamente relacionada al rendimiento. En términos generales, nos hemos vuelto mucho más flexibles y menos complicados.

Para ir al trabajo, ya no hace falta vestirnos de traje ni saludar al jefe con terror. En muchos campos ha desaparecido la ansiedad de mantener el teatro del ejecutivo riguroso e intachable. Ese tipo hoy ya es un acartonado con quien no nos sentimos muy a gusto.  Un escenario más casual ha ayudado a redefinir el concepto del joven emprendedor y a establecer una estética fresca y amable en las compañías. El tipo de los jeans y la camiseta punk-rock es ahora el CEO de la empresa y el de corbata es seguramente el empleado que atiende el front desk. 

Otra de las innovaciones que llegaron para quedarse es la fluidez en los espacios, no sólo para trabajo desde casa sino también en la movilidad dentro de las oficinas mismas. Estaciones itinerantes y escritorios compartidos es otra forma de mantenernos en movimiento constante, acoplándonos al orgánico crecimiento de las relaciones interpersonales.

El actual distanciamiento social, como medida de prevención, ha reforzado la necesidad de actuar con prudencia. Navegaremos los cambios y estaremos parcialmente aislados por un tiempo, pero me niego a creer que sea el final contundente de las oficinas en general. Tampoco creo que vayamos a trabajar todos en piyama y en frente del computador por el resto de nuestras vidas.

Si bien seguiremos obrando desde la cautela, no será sano dejar ir del todo el contacto con los demás. Ese compartir humano es fuente fundamental para nuestro desarrollo y prosperidad como civilización. Y también es esencial en la ejecución de muchos tipos de proyectos especializados, donde se vuelve imperativo contar con la contribución presencial de los miembros. No podremos dejar de reunirnos para el trabajo y tampoco podremos dejar de hacerlo en lo particular.

No dejarán de existir los encuentros entre familiares, amigos o colegas. No morirán los restaurantes, los cines, los teatros, ni los momentos para tomarse un café y conversar en persona. Todas estas son plataformas de vida que nutren nuestra supervivencia. 

Lo virtual no va a eliminar por completo lo real, como tampoco podremos comprar absolutamente todo online, ni celebrar cada cumpleaños que nos falta con fiestas en Zoom. Siendo objetivos y escuchando nuestra razón, sabremos discernir e ir construyendo un panorama híbrido, donde logremos reconectarnos con todo pero sin descuidar la seguridad de nuestras comunidades. Así iremos avanzando, distinguiendo lo útil y práctico, sin aceptar afirmaciones absolutas que nos condenen a la decadencia ni creer cada predicción ansiosa que leemos o escuchamos por ahí. 

Los ambientes de oficina se consolidarán entre una amalgama de espacios comerciales y residenciales, al que se conoce como “resimercial.” Inicialmente, se trataba de armar un ambiente hogareño y amable dentro de las oficinas, pero ahora es también una oportunidad para organizar un despacho especializado dentro de nuestros hogares, con mobiliarios atractivos, inteligentes y de calidad.

La idea es procurar que los lugares donde desarrollemos tareas sigan siendo eficientes pero también acogedores y que de igual forma, cumplan con las pautas recomendadas para cualquier actividad comercial. En mi experiencia como diseñador de espacios de trabajo, veo que lo más importante es tener una buena iluminación, sillas ergonómicas, muebles de grado profesional y cuando sea necesario, un control auditivo idóneo por medio de páneles acústicos. 

En tiempos de Covid-19, hay que pensar también en la integridad de nuestro entorno. La limpieza del aire y las superficies, y con ello la protección de cada miembro del equipo y visitante, se ha convertido en prioridad. Debemos entonces mantener los estándares de diseño pero también de seguridad, para construir estructuras que nos permitan seguir avanzando, juntos pero no revueltos, y sobre todo, con salud. 

Glider collection with Kubick Flexi glass. Designed by Bralco.

No creo que esto nos lleve de regreso al ya anticuado esquema de los cubículos. Lo que se sugiere es lograr separaciones seguras pero que sean sutiles o incluso, transparentes, para preservar la unión visual y la sensación de libertad que brindan los puestos despejados. El encierro está descartado y con él, la incomodidad de nuestros compañeros.
 
También es recomendable amoblar las zonas con piezas de alta durabilidad, que aguanten los constantes procesos de desinfección y limpieza a los que nos vemos obligados y que le inspiren confianza a sus usuarios. Así, lograremos superar la ansiedad colectiva en la que vivimos hoy en día y alcanzar un exitoso desempeño, con optimismo y vigor. 

Esta receta de protección y prosperidad se puede resumir en una sola intención: responsabilidad. Al comprometernos con el bienestar general, entendemos que sólo haciéndonos responsables de nuestros actos y sus efectos, podremos en realidad tomar las riendas, tanto a nivel gremial como individual.

Somos parte de un grandioso enlace simbiótico con todos y con todo a nuestro alrededor. Si los negocios siguen ese camino, el de la sensatez y el amor, entonces no habrá final fatal ni conclusión dramática, sino una luz al final de túnel, que alumbre el esfuerzo arduo de quienes no planean rendirse jamás.

Einstein solía decir que “la imaginación es más importante que el conocimiento.”  Y creo que se refería al optimismo que vive dentro de quienes se enfocan en solucionar los problemas, porque básicamente, de eso se trata la vida: contestar las preguntas y superar los obstáculos. Por eso, siempre volvemos al tablero de dibujo y desciframos, una vez más, cómo rayos vencer cada nuevo reto. La creatividad es y siempre será la cura a todos los males. 

Credit: pixelstalk.net

*Marco Trezza es Director de Arte y Diseño de UOF | USA Office Furniture.

Self-Love in the Time of Corona

By Kika Pérez

One day the world suddenly stopped. Everything came to a screeching halt. But it wasn’t Earth’s rotation that paused. It was the people living on the planet who were suddenly forced to hide from one of the worst enemies they had ever faced: an invisible, ubiquitous and merciless crown-shaped invader who would take their air and their loved ones. 

That could well be the opening of an eerie documentary, narrating the tragic doomsday tale we are going through with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global emergency.  Now, let’s ask ourselves how else we could spin this story, in a way where, without denying or dismissing the suffering and pain of so many, it could still show a glimpse of hope and an ending that sounded more like a new beginning. 

For our own safety, most of us are now indefinitely forced to stay at home, isolated and distanced. But what if this could be a “make lemonade” scenario where, at the impossibility of going outside, we instead, go inside. Somewhere between the impotence and despair, we might finally comes across that breakthrough we’ve been needing for so long.

How to find your self-love in the time of Coronavirus:

1. Start by being grateful.
You’ve heard this one before and it is so powerful and important. Those who start their day by saying thank you for everything they have, are happier and experience less negative emotions and anxiety.

Appreciate everything around you; the roof over your head, the comfortable couch you are laying on, the food in your fridge (or your tummy), the furry best friend who licks your feet while you read this. Even the phone in your hand is a powerful resource. If you are safe and healthy, acknowledge and cherish that you have what you need and that despite the chaos, you are okay.

2. Prioritize what’s important.
We’ve developed a character; a public version of ourselves. How we look, our demeanor and agenda has to do with our need to fit in and be admired by those around us. Being stuck at home in our pajama pants, with no makeup or gimmicks, sure puts everything in perspective, about how much of our existence revolves around appearance, image, and superficial values. But in times of need, we realize nothing else matters except each other.

Our addiction to money and things proves pointless when survival is key. No amount of power or fame can save us this time. This virus is teaching us an invaluable lesson in equality as it attacks everyone just the same, regardless of gender, race or social status. So let’s heed the warning and change our mindset by growing into a new perspective, where awareness, solidarity and empathy become our most valuable currency. 

3. Time is your best friend.
For those of us who are not needed for essential duties (Thank you, heroes), being at home is mandatory. But that doesn’t mean you must get bored and start moping around, eating potato chips while you obsessively watch every stressful Coronavirus update. Instead, take a shower, look for a quiet place and make a list of rewarding things you can do during this time, that will make your forced staycation a bit more tolerable and a lot more successful.

Think of those hobbies you never get to indulge in: read that book, listen to the new Pearl Jam album, become the amateur chef you always wanted to be, do a closet clean-up with your kids, and please make your wife happy by finally organizing that mess in the garage. She’s been begging you since 2012.

We’re always complaining that we never have enough time; Time to rest, time to spend with our families, time to just be. Well, guess what? Right now you get to save the world by doing nothing and time is what you have most of. 

4. Create a proper home office. 
Working from home has become the temporary norm. And it can definitely be a challenging scenario when you’re trying to concentrate, hold virtual meetings, take calls from colleagues and get things done in the middle of a dirty laundry castle, decorated with an explosion of Legos thrown in the air by tiny “co-workers” running around in nothing but their Batman capes.

So we must adapt and design the live-in office our work deserves. Choose a corner that is secluded, has ample light and a neutral background. Order a professional desk and chair to ensure you are as organized and comfortable as possible, which will exponentially increase your desire and performance. You’ll also stay focused by setting the right boundaries to separate your time at the “office” (guest room) from your time at “home” (a.k.a. your bed).

5. Give yourself permission to be human. 
 This is still a very frightening, unsettling and painful situation, as many are currently battling the virus or have lost a family member or friend. So before following our list of tips, or doing whatever else you think you’re supposed to accomplish right now, remember that taking care of yourself is the first step.

Experts in Positive Psychology agree that embracing the nature of our humanity is fundamental and necessary. Feeling confused, scared, disoriented and even a bit depressed is exactly what’s expected from us right now. No one is asking you to build a house, get a Master’s degree or discover the laws of gravity (Newton did but he didn’t have Netflix) during your quarantine. Instead, take a deep breath and take it one day at a time. Let your emotional intelligence guide you.

Do your best to stay active and involved but understand that your entire system has gone into survival mode and you might not be up for a virtual wine party every night or much of anything at all, except hiding under the covers and hoping for this thing to pass soon. So let’s be compassionate with ourselves and others, because we’ve been harshly reminded that love is always the most effective cure. 

Working around the Coronavirus

Keep calm.
Stay informed.
Be safe.

By: Kika Perez

Now that the villainous Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, is it more than natural to feel anxiety and even panic, particularly due to the notorious lack of resources, containment power and overall shortcomings of our public officials and healthcare system.

But, regardless of the scary numbers, statistics and hospital nightmares, the best prescription for this and any other emergency is to always remain calm. Letting fear alone drive us is only going to make things worse for everyone. So let’s take a deep breath, keep our cool, look at the facts, listen to the experts, and prepare cautiously without losing our minds.

We paid attention to the World Health Organization, epidemiologists and infectious disease experts on how to keep our composure and slow down the spread of this alarming disease, and created our own “Prevention Checklist for the Office,” so that we may all stay informed, ready and as safe as possible.

1. Work from home.
Staying home is the smartest way to avoid getting the virus or passing it onto others. Working from a secluded, private space with minimal person to person contact and interaction will increase your chances of avoiding the virus altogether and making sure others remain safe too. Countless companies have currently opted for a telecommute dynamic, holding work communications and meetings via video conference and therefore, greatly reducing the chances of exposure and infection.

2. Keep your workspace clean and hygienic.
If you are unable to work from home, then make sure your office remains as safe as possible for your team and visitors. Keep an eye out for contaminated surfaces like desks and tables, and keep objects like telephones and keyboards sanitized by wiping them with disinfectant regularly, “because contamination on surfaces touched by employees and customers is one of the main ways that COVID-19 spreads.”
Another way of ensuring safety inside the office is “promoting good respiratory hygiene.” Ensure that face masks and/or paper tissues are available at your workplaces for those who develop a runny nose or cough, along with closed bins for hygienically disposing of them.”

3. Say hello the smart way.
Stop shaking hands, kissing or hugging. This isn’t a hippie music festival. It’s a serious time.
We can show just as much love or even more by waving from a distance, because we are protecting each other. Let’s keep those societal traditions and niceties aside while we get ahold of this thing.

3. Wash your hands. Wash them a lot.
Our best guess is that coronavirus is transmitted via close contact and surface contamination, so let’s wash our hands like our life depended on it, because it does. Wash them every time you can; after entering a new building or crowded space, after touching door knobs, elevator buttons, etc. Promote regular and thorough hand-washing by employees, contractors and customers and put sanitizing hand rub dispensers in prominent places around the workplace. Make sure these dispensers are regularly refilled and display posters promoting hand-washing.” Soap and water used properly goes a long way in killing the virus on your hands and preventing the spread of COVID-19.

4. Avoid touching your face.
“Or picking your nose, or putting your fingers in your mouth, on your lips, or in your eyes.” If your hands touch a compromised surface and then come in contact with your skin, you are pretty much inviting the virus in. We know it sounds a bit silly, but most of us are unaware of how frequently we touch our faces. It seems almost involuntary. “An observational study found that people sitting at a desk working, touched their eyes, nose or lips between 3 and 50 times per hour.”

5. Social distancing.
In layman terms, simply don’t expose yourself if you don’t need to. Social gatherings, heavily populated spaces, theme parks, subways, trains and of course, airplanes are not exactly the safest places to be at right now. Stay within 6 feet of each other and sanitize shared objects. Avoid high risk places where you can be in contact with sick people. “This public health strategy is our next line of defense, and its implementation is what will lead to flights and events cancelled and borders and schools closed.” Additionally, other measures to protect our communities both locally and globally will be enforced.

6. For the love of life, if you are sick, STAY HOME!
If you start to feel even a little bit sick within a 2 to 14 day period, you need to self isolate. Stay away from other people or pets in your household. Stop sharing household items with family members. Keep all frequently used areas properly sanitized and monitor your health closely. Look for a tiny tickle in your throat or difficulty breathing. Other symptoms include fever, runny nose and sore throat. Please talk to your doctor if you suspect having the COVID-19 and follow their instructions as they might advise you to stay home until you are no longer a contagion risk.

7. And more importantly, don’t panic.
Infectious diseases specialist, Abdu Sharkawy said it best:
“I am not scared of Covid-19. What I am scared about is the loss of reason and wave of fear that has induced the masses of society into a spellbinding spiral of panic… I am scared of the masks that are stolen from hospitals and urgent care clinics where they are actually needed for front line healthcare providers… I am scared that our hospitals will be overwhelmed… that epidemic fears will ultimately culminate in a global recession… The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and ‘fight for yourself above all else’ attitude could prove disastrous.” Let’s instead  “temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. 
We have an opportunity to learn a great deal and meet… this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge…”


References: From the texts of The World Health Organization, Epidemiologist and Public Health PhD, Dr. Malia Jones and Infectious disease specialist, Dr. Abdu Sharkawy. 
For information related to the COVID-19 and any other global health issue, please visit https://www.who.int