Coronavirus response: Working from home forces firms to evolve practices

Name: Coronavirus: Behaviour expert says top tip for working from home is ‘reduce the guilt’
Uploaded: 2020-07-23T14:00:09.000Z
Duration: 5 min 48 s
Description: Coronavirus: Behaviour expert says top tip for working from home is ‘reduce the guilt’

Working from home has its challenges but could also bring an end to outdated attitudes at firms that still equate time in the office with productivity

Shift to remote working is leaving behind younger and less experienced employees who would normally expect to receive mentoring from their older colleagues

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Sarah Yunits checks her daughter Ada’s homework while Cora waits her turn and father Conor Yunits takes a work call at their home in Brockton, Massachusetts, on March 19. Working from home has been a boon to many during the pandemic but has also posed personal and professional challenges during the transition. Photo: Getty Images

Richard Harris

Published: 10:00pm, 23 Jul 2020Updated: 4:23am, 24 Jul 2020

As I write this, I overlook a steady stream of people forming a column at the country park entrance to climb up to Jardine’s Lookout. Not too surprising on a Sunday, but this is Wednesday and it’s a work-from-home day. As I watch, we have the excitement of a helicopter lifting a casualty off Mount Butler, which may have ruined a good day out.

The government has rightly encouraged working from home for a week or two. One of my career dreams was to move to the north of Scotland – or maybe somewhere warmer – and work overlooking the sea. I thought I might write in those pre-internet days, ignoring the fact that the books I wanted to pen were probably not going to make the millions needed to support my humble lifestyle.

Nowadays the work-from-home dream is a forced reality for millions, and many have quickly appreciated the benefits aside from being literally able to take a hike. No more commuting two hours a day, or in some countries four or more. It is easier to get around with less traffic at rush hour. There is flexible time to take a break in the day with more time with the kids. Companies benefit from more relaxed and hopefully creative staff.

We may see people in the country park and on the beach during the day, but we don’t see people working late evenings and weekends. Some early statistics have shown work from home to be, at least initially, a boost to productivity. If you have a video call with a demanding boss, just make sure the background of palm trees is not real.

05:48

Coronavirus: Behaviour expert says top tip for working from home is ‘reduce the guilt’

My laptop is my office. If I am appointed to do an expert witness case, much of the research can be done as easily from my office in Europe or a beach in Vietnam as in Hong Kong. In last year’s university lockdown amid protest disruptions, one professor told me his undergraduate students were watching from various holiday places around Asia. Why not?

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x