No deberíamos haber tenido que atravesar una pandemia para asegurar algo tan de sentido común como que el teletrabajo ha llegado para quedarse. El término de trabajo «desde los hogares» podemos encontrarlo en la que para muchos es una obra premonitoria de Alvin Toffler, La Tercera Ola, título que en las circunstancias pandémicas trae connotaciones nada ensoñadoras, pero que hacía referencia a una nueva era de producción descentralizada, no masificada y personalizada, frente a la «primera ola» (agrícola) y «segunda ola» (industrial).
«Cuando escribimos eso, en La Tercera Ola«, diría Toffler años más tarde en una entrevista televisada, «pronosticando que habría más trabajo en los hogares, eso fue considerado como lunático, y el New York Times en un artículo de primera plana diciendo que era un absurdo futurista (…) El Gobierno japonés ha creado una política que para 2010 [ojo, 2010] espera tener 1 de cada 5 trabajadores trabajando desde el hogar (…) Recuerdo presentando esa idea por primera vez en Japón, y dijeron «¡No se puede, las casas son demasiado pequeñas, la gente no está acostumbrada!», y ahora es una política oficial del Gobierno mover un quinto de la actividad económica hacia el hogar».
In fact, the idea has even earlier precedents. In 1976, a research group at the University of Southern California, led by Jack Nilles, published a study assessing the cost of commuting to offices and anticipated that the technology would enable a more efficient economy through what it called telecommuting. Even seven years earlier, Alan Kiron, a scientist at the US patent office, had written in The Washington Post how the integration of computers and communication tools would change life and work through what he called dominetics, a combination of the words home, connections and electronics. The term may not have caught on, but the idea did.
More than 50 years after that initial formulation, and more than 40 years after this Apple advert which outlined those scenarios, the leap to teleworking forced by the COVID-19 pandemic has been made not without considerable effort. But once we have learned of its advantages, it will be difficult to avoid a large-scale earthquake not only in employee/office relations, but also and probably in ideas of urban planning, urban living and commuting. It is something that goes far beyond the touchless society, as a temporary reality imposed by prevention measures.
For this reason, and as we know that the transformation will last, at BRAINTRUST we wanted to draw up a dozen basic recommendations to face the challenges posed by this change, which could have been progressive, for which we should have been prepared, and which has caught us overnight with some homework left undone. These recommendations are compiled below:
- You're at home, but you're at work. So the concept of pyjamas and slippers or tracksuit and socks is not going to help you. It's about seeing yourself, even in the aspects that you might consider superficial, in full activity. Get dressed. What's more: dress appropriately. If a dressing gown wouldn't be your best office attire, there's no reason to think it can be your best productivity ally.
- It's going to be a lot of days, a lot of hours, a lot of dedication. Sitting on the sofa in front of the TV or lying in bed at the computer will not only affect your productivity. More importantly, and now that we are being shaken by a pandemic we have all the more reason to say so, it can affect your health. Both physically, by forcing you to watch your back, and mentally: differentiate between leisure and work spaces, as putting them together may not be the best idea.
- A good desk, a comfortable and tidy workspace, and a good source of light, better if it is natural, are essential. Calculate the number of hours per year that you are going to work, do you need any additional data? Recreating an office environment is what will help you the most.
- Set working hours, both for yourself and for others in relation to you. Just because you are at home, just because others are at home, does not mean that they and you are connected 24/7/365. Flexibility does not mean, and should not mean, permanent availability.
- ¿Cuánto tardabas en ir a la oficina? No aproveches ese tiempo para pasarte de frenada con la última cabezada, o para «tirar el boli» antes de tiempo. Aprovéchalo para darte descansos en tu jornada de trabajo.
- Just because you won't be physically present with your colleagues doesn't mean you should forget about them. Keeping in touch using videoconferencing tools is not only a must in most cases for efficiency reasons, but it is also advisable because personal relationships are crucial to maintain perspective and avoid stressful situations.
- Your being at home is neither a reward nor a punishment. It should not even be exceptional because the circumstances are exceptional. It is something that sooner or later was going to be normal and in some cases already was. It is just that its adoption on a large scale has been brought forward. The best way to ensure that working from home is not a source of frustration, and that it does not raise false expectations, is to prioritise tasks in the same way as you would in an office, but with the advantage that interruptions will be less constant and are likely to be scheduled. Use this to your advantage.
- No obstante, ¿puede haber algo más frustrante que haber cambiado radicalmente el modus operandi y tener que añadir todos estos puntos a la dinámica profesional del día a día? Sí: estar con esta adaptación y conviviendo con las disposiciones de la «nueva normalidad», para que por un descuido, un error, una omisión o simplemente mala suerte, de pronto haya que repetir todo el trabajo porque «se ha borrado», «ha desaparecido» o expresiones similares que todos hemos pronunciado alguna vez. Guarda tu trabajo con insistencia, y no dejes de hacer copias de seguridad por ahorrarte unos minutos de tiempo.
- Donde antes veías el mundo por una pequeña pantalla corporativa con el tiempo tasado, parece que ahora tengas el mundo a tus pies, ¿verdad? Correos electrónicos, redes sociales y el inmenso océano de información, formación y también ocio que es Internet. Y además los mensajes de Whatsapp, sobre los que ahora eres dueño y señor sin límite de tiempo. Como para decirle que no. Pues no le digas que no, pero dile a todo eso a qué hora le vas a prestar tu atención: e-mail a las 9, a las 13 y a las 17, no cuando te lleguen; Whatsapps a las 11, a las 14 y a las 18, no cuando te avise la campanita del teléfono; redes sociales con el café de las 10 y antes de «cerrar el chiringuito». Cuanto más domestiques a las distracciones, más provecho y disfrute sacarás de ellas.
- You have an advantage over all the people who are not teleworking: you will most likely not have to spend tedious days with a less tedious mask on your back, plus a replacement mask just in case. That reality must not be turned into a false sense of total security. You are still living in the midst of a pandemic, and you must continue to keep that in mind when you leave the house, and always as stipulated by the authorities so that dealing with the threat is a collective success.
- All this dedication can come to naught if it is not compatible with the people you live with, if you live with them at all. If that is the case, your cohabitants must understand that times, routines, spaces and obligations deserve their respect, just as theirs deserve yours. If you replace the usual interruptions in the office with the no less usual ones at home, you will have left Guatemala and entered Guatepeor.
- Por último, haberte ahorrado el tiempo de desplazamiento tiene una consecuencia que no debes obviar: el mínimo movimiento físico que hacías antes de casa a la oficina y viceversa te obligaba a un mínimo de ejercicio. Uno de los errores de la «vieja normalidad» era nuestra tendencia a llevar una vida excesivamente sedentaria. Ahora, y en la medida en que no surjan situaciones de alta excepcionalidad, deberías plantearte más que nunca hacer algo de ejercicio físico. Tienes todo el día para planificarlo. Estar «teletrabajando» no significa trabajar más horas para hacer lo mismo, significa organizar mejor el tiempo de trabajo para sacarle más provecho al resto del día. No descuides tu salud. Hoy, más que nunca, mens sana in corpore sano.
Image Photo by Alizée Baudez on Unsplash
Text: APPP/EKMB/BTCS