Work From Home: A Blessing In Disguise

By: Wahba Alsawaf | Senior Graphic Designer | Another In Kingdom

In March 2020, Covid-19 sent most of the work force home, with the only exception being the front-liners; to whom we are eternally grateful.

The impact of the pandemic was felt across all industries and from the smallest to the largest of companies. They all needed to make serious adjustments to the definition of “day-to-day operations” and had to create and adapt to a Work From Home (WFH) format.

For both employees and employers, it was a period uncertainty both professionally and personally. The financial burden, productivity levels and commitment or lack thereof; were major areas of distress. The impact effected performance and mental health.

To everyone’s surprise, WFH was a blessing in disguise. Productivity levels jumped up, employees showed a level of commitment that management was very happy with and last but not least, a work-life balance was finally achievable.  Surprisingly, the spirit of the "team" was felt more as everyone realised they needed that sense of belonging and participation.

Although, the lack of human interaction could be considered a downside; the achieved work-life balance compensated. Furthermore, many other stress factors have been taken out of the equation, and the most important one is the commute and lost hours in traffic between meetings. As a result, employees have a more stable pace to their day. 

In my opinion, WFH (in the service industry) has proven itself as an effective and positive solution. Many companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google have made the decision to keep most of their work forces home for the foreseeable future. Who knows, maybe they’ll decide to make it permanent.