Though some offices are slowly transitioning to working in the office again, things are not the same anymore. There are a lot of precautions and practices to be observed and one of those is social distancing, which also requires companies to go on skeletal force. A portion of the workforce renders work in the office and some still works from home.

We, too, in HDI, are observing these precautions. In fact, we have been observing a work-from-home setup for almost 3 months. And just like other companies, the work-from-home concept was very new to us.

In fact, it was quite a challenge at first. We thought that the lack of resources will hinder operations, but our burning commitment has helped us turn things around and observe the work from home set-up seamlessly. It is indeed true, that better versions of ourselves come out during tough times. Work-from-home allowed us to discover positive shifts we thought we could never do.

Things can be done online. The situation has squeezed our brains to come up with solutions on how we can make things work efficiently even while working from home. In a matter of days, we were able to transition our processes online. Even paper trails, partner engagements, and payments are done online. This shift has even made us rethink our current internal processes, incorporating online transactions and it has made us accept that ONLINE processes need to be prioritized.

Better collaboration. The work-from-home set up allowed us to coordinate better across departments. For some reason, we had more discussions, more collaboration, and deeper conversations during this period compared to when we were all in the office. Probably because in the office, we are all physically separated by walls and fixtures. But during work-from-home, we all go to one space, and that is the ONLINE space. There are no barriers (even with some technical glitch or connection problems). Work-from-home has created stronger bonds, openness, and unity for us and this doesn’t just apply internally. As a matter of fact, some employees have also shared that their communication with partners and stakeholders have become better during this time.

Wiser use of time. We didn’t have to run to check in right on time. No long travel and traffic to and from work. Work-from-home has made us use our time wiser and better. We were able to work on time (and even earlier). The 1-2 hours travel time was converted to something more meaningful and purposeful.

We can do it. Who would have thought we could do it? Despite the doubts, here we are, we are winning the work-from-home set up! We have remained productive, in fact, even more productive during this period. It has made us become more resourceful and creative in coming up with ideas to deliver quality output for our internal and external customers. Since the situation is unusual, we were all stretched to do better, to rethink our strategies, and really focus on things that will bring progress for our company and the employees.