Work from home – How it can affect others in the family

Work from home – How it can affect others in the family

Leadership & Management

Sridhar Narayanaswamy

Sridhar Narayanaswamy

237 week ago — 3 min read

Now every office goer may have adjusted to the new Work from Home culture. Many memes are in circulation joking about what happens when someone is working from home. They are funny to watch and brings a smile amidst such a grim situation. 

 

Being locked down is a new experience for almost every office goer as this is the first time it is happening in our lives.  No one knows how it was in 1918 when a serious illness struck our forefathers. We can only read about it in the papers or on the net.

What is often forgotten is that for our other members of the family, who are not office goers – our spouses who are homemakers, our children, our parents and other elders – Work from Home is nothing new. It is only new for the regular office goers who have been asked to sit in their respective homes.

Here are some suggestions for the new entrants to the Work from Home culture!

  • While one may be busy with office work, allot some time to spend with the family also. Yes, work is important, but it should not give an impression that you are ignoring your spouse or children or parents.

    For other members of the family, who are not office goers – our spouses who are homemakers, our children, our parents and other elders – work from home is nothing new.


  • Take a break often and make sure you talk to your family members.

  • Keep your senior and subordinates about your work-timings so that they don’t call you at odd-hours.

  • Do not accept phone calls when you are playing with your son or daughter.

  • Share anecdotes from the office so that they appreciate what you are doing.

  • No need to talk about confidential information but sharing jokes or about good work done by you, will enliven the situation.

  • Enquire about the health of your relatives and friends, by calling them once in a while.

  • Your spouse may be feeling proud about your dedication to work but it can also backfire if the lockdown extends and you are aloof.

  • Participate in any work around the house as and when time permits so that your family members don’t feel that they have to do all the work while you sit in your room seemingly doing some office work.

  • Always be dressed well just like your other family members for whom this is nothing new.

  • Always have the fine line between work and leisure, well defined.

Good luck and let us pray for a virus-free days, soon and for our economy to bounce back.

Also read: Work from home: How to handle it?

Image source: shutterstock.com

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Sridhar Narayanaswamy

Managing partner of Innovatus Systems, founded by him on January 1, 2013. Sridhar is a result oriented professional with over four decades in the Information Technology &...