WFH and Working Women
Challenges & Solutions
Prior to 2019, WFH (Work from Home) was heard of in the IT industry. Occasionally, when work pressures were light, employees used to seek WFH to manage tasks which could be undertaken without taking an off for the entire day. Covid 19 brought in WFH across all sectors and today it has become the new norm. Now, we deal with employees who want the option of WFH or at best, a Hybrid model wherein one can have the flexibility to combine WFH with attending office on certain days in the week.
Let’s see what WFH requires at a very basic level. A laptop or desktop, a secure internet connection, chat and conference facility, a dedicated place to work and a mobile smart phone are sufficient to conduct WFH. During the pandemic, companies did their best to provide these facilities to avoid a break in business continuity and sustain employee productivity. Admittedly, it was quite a success at first. Employees were excited and a lot of them even went overboard in meeting their deliverables while working from home.
However, over time productivity began falling as the darker side of WFH began to surface. This included factors like social isolation, loneliness, interminable and stretched work hours, fatigue, and limitations to collaboration among other things.
CHALLENGES FACED BY WORKING WOMEN DURING WFH
While the flip side of WFH was evident across genders, the brunt of this was borne by working women. After the initial euphoria, women employees had to contend with various challenges. This included the following:
Blurring of boundaries
It was a double whammy for women employees. They had to complete their work deliverables and manage domestic chores too. The latter was not new for them. However, during the pre-pandemic period, boundaries had been better defined which allowed them to focus on their work once they left home. Now, it was a constant juggle between taking care of home and work without any tangible line drawn between the two
Prevailing social structure
The social structure in India is still not evolved enough to equate men and women when it comes to work responsibilities. This became more evident during the pandemic. Men’s work was given more importance. Even though working women couldn’t put their work on the backburner, they were still expected to carry the larger share of the household chores. And if they were unable to strike a fine balance, they would face the music at both ends; from disgruntled managers at work to critical family members at home. This contributed greatly to the emotional health of working women and consequently to demotivation and depression
Unannounced visitors
Unannounced visitors and guests at home have posed another challenge for working women during WFH. The difference in expectations from the men and women during these situations has been rather evident and in some cases led to marital issues and long lasting conflict
Multiple demands on their time
Managing children - especially the young ones – and their studies has also been a source of anxiety and potential stress. Taking a call from the children’s school and helping manage technical issues faced by children undergoing online classes while managing their own work schedule has not been easy at all. In some cases, younger children have needed their mother’s presence and the latter may not have been able to manage it due to the multiple demands on their time. The psychological pressure of this has taken its toll on women WFH
Going to office gave a feeling of liberation to women. For a few hours at least, they were able to get out, meet friends and colleagues, have heart to heart talks with friends, and vent out frustrations. This became difficult if not impossible during WFH. These frustrations at times were inadvertently vented out on family members which was detrimental to family life, and yet another source of emotional drain-out for working women
The need to prove themselves
The subtle yet constant pressure to prove that they were working the required number of hours while WFH compelled working women to stretch beyond normal working hours, fueling the already high levels of anxiety
MANAGING THE WFH SCENARIO
It has not been an easy road to tread for working women during WFH. Having said that, a lot of women employees have been successful in managing some of these challenges.
Here are a few suggestions that have proven useful for working women over the past couple of years:
Set expectations at home
Set clear expectations with family members, including the spouse. Make a routine for work and try adhering to it. WFH provides an opportunity for flexible timings and it will help to set the pace of work as per the deadlines provided by the Manager. Once family members are aware of the routine and schedule, it becomes relatively easier for them too to support the women employees WFH
Establish boundaries with the Manager
Agree with the Manager on tasks to be accomplished during the day and clearly set expectations on deliverables without the latter infringing on personal time and family commitments
Communication
Keep the family informed of important scheduled meetings to avoid disruptions and interruptions. This might include a sit-down with children sensitizing them to the needs of the work and letting them know that they are very important and you are there for them, but that you might be unavailable at certain times due to work responsibilities. Communicating with the spouse and the other family members (in case of a non-nuclear family structure) is also helpful in setting expectations and boundaries
A fixed routine
Work from Home Working Women
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