When your normal finally becomes the norm: WFH, virtual meetings, zoom life…

It’s not often that I find myself feeling ahead of the curve.

I’ve worked for myself now for approaching 9 years: I left the comfort and security of a full-time job to go it alone and – most of the time – I’ve not looked back.

That’s not to say that it hasn’t been tough at times. But I’ve realised that I was, in fact a pioneer. Setting up my own business from a room in my house – balancing the school runs with telephone meetings…juggling after-school care with project deadlines: it was all a training event for what 2020 had to throw at us all.

I’ve often felt that working from home has had a bit of a bad reputation (and not in that way!!)…it didn’t feel as credible as going out to an office, sitting in meeting rooms, brainstorming around a whiteboard tolerating the daily commute. There was a strange (and, in my opinion, inflated) value placed on being where the work was: but it had never held me back. 

While I’m all too aware that 2020 has brought families and businesses untold disruption, it’s also offered some reassurance that I was doing a decent job all along. Now, I’m not the odd one out, working from a desk in my spare room. I’m not the only one “meeting” people for the first time without actually seeing them in the flesh.

This way of working has offered me the chance to develop a successful, and thriving business, while also being around for my kids – both before and during this crazy period we’re all experiencing.

But now, it’s become something that has enabled companies to continue to trade while we’ve been prevented from travelling or even from leaving the house. People have realised that home-based working can be just as effective and as efficient as operating out of an office. Meetings have gone ahead. Strategies have been developed. Projects have been delivered. The world hasn’t come to a grinding halt…

So, I’m hoping that employers can recognise the benefits it brings, and that the zoom-life will actually be here to stay. Not to replace the office: that’s a long way off…but perhaps, to offer more people more of a choice, and improve their chances at striking a more manageable work-life balance.