New ways work

WHEN I first set up my consultancy business, I had a small office in a multi-tenanted building in Waverley Rd, East Malvern. While I spent part of most days at the desk, I also spent considerable hours in cafes, on client sites and working from home.

I soon realised the writing and editing aspects of my work were transportable. I could sit in the park with a red pen; hey, I could even lie on a towel during summer at my “local” — the somewhat ironically named Harold Holt swimming pool.

I recall worrying during client phone calls about the sound of splashing lap swimmers and squealing kids at play. Then I figured if I had pulled over in the car to take the call, the sound would be the same.

So, on the rare occasion a caller asked where I was, I simply said I was parked up by the pool.

It took years to lose that sense of having to explain my whereabouts. I was my own boss, I worked hard, always met my deadlines and, if anything, over-serviced my longterm loyal clients. Yet it was as though work not conducted in an office or on a designated site was not really considered work.

That old stigma of working from home has had a shake-up during lockdown conditions.

Indeed, it now has acronym status as WFH.

Of course, the crushing reality is that many people cannot transfer their work to home. That is one of the devastating realities of the COVID-19 response, which governments at every level continue to address.

For those who can WFH, it is exciting to see people realise productivity does not have to change. That output can actually be higher without the many distractions of workplace campus life.

Dial-up phone meetings have been standard practice for decades; it is necessary for global projects. Video conferencing has also been around but not used with the frequency it deserves.

Working remotely has many advantages: reduced need for travel being the biggest, particularly when one lives a couple of hours’ drive each way from the capital city. WFH or even simply more flexible hours is a no-brainer alternative to the insanity of peak hour. Few cars also means less congestion, potential lower road tolls, reduced emissions and less stress.

WFH provides some opportunity to focus for long stretches without the inevitable social interruptions of an office environment. Letting a call go to voicemail somehow feels less rude than closing the office door.

Another huge time and money saver is the option to toil away in active wear, ugg boots, safari suit or mumu — whatever blows your (undressed) hair back. The need to adopt the work “mask”, with all the expected accessories, is saved for special occasions rather than being part of the daily grind.

The downside is the fact you never really leave the office. The 24/7 accessibility through technology had already made workdays longer, but having the other elements of work life spilling into your home can be confronting.

Fast forward from my poolparking 20s to now and I never really stop working. That is not a whinge, I enjoy every moment of it and it is entirely self-inflicted.

But it can tend to take over, not only in terms of time and focus, but the physical leaching of workrelated crud into what was personal space.

Exhibit A: I am typing this at 6am from the dining table so I do not miss the early morning family run or any other action. The result is piles of paperwork, three laptops, two phones and a tangle of power cords next to the salt and pepper shaker. Crudspill.

My upstairs office space seamlessly blends with the open space floorplan. This was a good idea before we had three teenagers sharing the area all day. Future home designs may re-embrace segregation (doors) and include multiple work/study spaces.

Speaking of students, most digital natives quickly adapted to the technology, however the discipline of home-based working proved a little more challenging.

Meetings, like classrooms, are also different without body language and other grapples include patchy regional connectivity, increased utility costs and the juggling act with young children.

So there are pros, cons and opportunities with this enforced flexibility and we will need to be strict with ourselves and forgiving of each other as we learn to navigate it successfully.

While we have moved on from justifying ourselves and our home office, it is clear there are lessons in this for more than only the schoolchildren.

Stephanie Asher is Mayor of Geelong