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Do you prefer to work from home or the office?

Many organisations are now asking their employees to join the office. Various professionals speak to Monarose Sheila Pereira about their preferences.

Praveen Nagda, Festival Director, CultureCinema2021 and KidzCINEMA2020, Founder & CEO, Peregrine Public Relations Pvt. Ltd.,and White Coffee Event Management Pvt. Ltd.

I personally believe that work from home is not the best option for ensuring a high degree of work productivity. The environment at work is always conditioned for you to interact with your peers and execute work. Also, many people look at work as an important part of life and a break from their homes. Not many people may have great spacious homes allowing for a lot of personal spaces, especially in a city like Mumbai.

In this situation, workspaces offer most people a personal space, colleagues as friends, and other work relationships that help them shape up their creative faculties. Working from the office is any day more preferable than working from home.

Pratik Rajankar, Art Director

I definitely prefer work from home. It helps me remain comfortable, in my space which directly enhances creativity. It’s not like the team is away. They are all a phone call’s distance away, making work efficient. Work from home has also helped people like me, who stay in smaller cities to live with their parents and family around.

Bernadette Matthews, Pharmaceutical Business Development Executive- Asia Pacific

I prefer to work from home any day in comparison to working from the office. Well every coin does have two sides, so I do understand my choice too has its pros and cons. With this thought, let me pen down a few reasons why I personally prefer a WFH. The primary reason is the time and energy I save on my commute from home to office. I observed, I could maintain a better work-life balance in addition to an increase in my savings stemming from the cost cutback from my commute to the office daily.
In conclusion, WFH gave me the boost and most importantly the time, of course that I averted from commuting, to nurture my hobbies and be actively involved in constructive activities for my body, mind and spiritual growth. This resulting change has been clearly visible in my personality and corporate output.

Dinesh S. Chindarkar, Co-Founder & Director, MediaMedic Communications

I prefer a hybrid model with a mix of both. Since I run a communication business, it’s so important at times to connect with your team, socialise a bit, have that personal connection to help build a good productive team. When one is given the flexibility of commuting during preferred hours on certain days of the week with a flexi-time option, it helps reduce stress significantly and has a better work life balance resulting in happier employees.

Dr. Kshipra Vora, Clinical Psychologist and Academician

I have started an online helpline. It is my way to reach out to those in need. It is to help them regain their composure, accept reality and build a healthier, happier outlook on life. The current covid-crisis has not only endangered our physical health but also put our mental health at stake. The control we had over our own lives has been snatched away and clouded in uncertainty. The pandemic has drastically altered our lifestyles and has given us loss, tragedy and struggles.

There have been optimistic outcomes too, to those who are resilient. Tough times don’t last but tough people do. Online helplines play an important role as much as clinic visits.

Sarah Rangwala, student, NMIMS College

During the pandemic, most of the schools, colleges have shifted to online education. For online classes , students are able to attend lectures in their own homes with a laptop or a phone and a good wifi connection. Online classes are helpful during the pandemic as there is a lockdown so the students cannot come physically to class. Online classes are beneficial , as students don’t have to travel. This saves a lot of energy and is far more economical as it saves money on transportation. Also during the rains , it’s easier to attend online classes from the comfort of your home .

In online classes , we miss face to face interactions, discussions, practical’s and the fun we used to have in college. In offline classes , there is face to face interaction, students can physically perform the practical’s , they have better concentration and are able to spend time with their friends.

At the start of the pandemic , we were very happy with the online lectures as we could attend lectures from the comfort of our own homes and did not have to worry about covid , being late and missing out on attendance . But now we are fed up with online classes and would like to attend college as before the pandemic , chill out with our friends during class and have fun.

Rachel D’silva, student, Rizvi College

Personally, I prefer online classes compared to offline classes. The simple reason is that it is convenient. While offline classes require me to travel and dress up, online classes don’t. I don’t have to worry about messy hair or a certain dress code. I’m also always on time and not in a rush which makes me feel less stressed out.

The teachers don’t mind if we keep our cameras off as long as we’re interacting and even if they require us to keep our cameras on, they don’t mind our outfits as long as we are decently presentable. Not worrying about what I’m going to eat and if I’m on time to catch the bus are perks of online classes. Everything is also very easily accessible whether they’re recordings and PPT’s for later references or animated videos used for learning. Compared to offline classes, online classes just make life easier.

Baleshwari Ponraj Nadar, Designation – Content Moderator

For the last 17 months due to the pandemic we have been working from home. We received many facilities like laptop, internet bills paid by the organization bonus for working in a pandemic. Also working from home saves a lot of time as we don’t have to travel. But I would prefer to work from the office, because office work can be done in the office only; not at home. Also we don’t have much privacy at home. Especially for me as I stay in a 1RK its very difficult for me to attend meetings and to stay focused and concentrate on work as some of the other work is going on in the background.

Also if we work in an office we can clear doubts on the spot and ask questions from our colleagues. But at WFH we have to wait for the response as sometimes they are busy doing other work and we get a late reply due to which productivity is hampered. I contend that working in an office is more efficient and it will lead to a better yield. Although working at home may seem to be more comfortable at first sight but it is not so in the end.

Misbah Shaikh, Counselor in an IT based institute.

I used to wonder how it will feel to work from home. I would be fascinated to work from your own comfort zone. When the pandemic hit us and lockdownd was declared, we were almost caged in our own house. I was happy that finally it would be relaxing and I will be my own boss; no one is watching you and you don’t have to work with regulations or sit in a particular way, no meetings, no extra pressure, nothing.

However, within a week of working from home I realised it’s actually so boring and challenging at the same time; as we live in a 1BHK flat with 7 people in my family. The main challenge was to find peace while working. As a counselor I need to talk to people to guide them and get them placed in good organisations.

There were a lot of noises from my siblings, my mother cooking and many more. It would be so frustrating at times. Working from home was a challenge in itself as you cannot discuss any point with your seniors. You cannot have a lunch time masti or chai time banter with your colleague. I would literally miss the motivation I would get from my seniors and boss. I would literally work 9 hours sitting at the same place and would get really annoyed by the end of the day. I would miss travelling, going to the office , meeting my colleagues, our daily routine, interacting with new people and also the parties to celebrate our success.

My personal experience from working from home was not fascinating as I thought it would be because you cannot focus on your work properly. When you know that no one is watching you, you become irresponsible. So when my office opened in June I was the happiest person.

This news was shared to Prittle Prattle News via press release.

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