How effectively Can you WFH

[Tinkerbell]

My daughter is working from home, if I were not here I am unsure how "professional" she would be She is a single parent with a 5 yr old who needs looking after and homeschooling, all of which I am doing but for how long I am unsure, as I am, to be honest, pretty tired. Her company have paid for chairs and desks but she is still having to work from her bedroom. As she is in HR and at a high level, conference calls etc are a nightmare as the broadband provider, pre lockdown, did not process her new internet contract (Sky fibre optic) correctly, it was three weeks and the into lockdown before they actually connected her and not super speed whatever it is called but more hamster level. She has tried contacting them but it appears that call levels are high and whilst her call is important to them, she either is holding on for so long the lines cut out or she loses the will to live!

I think many firms will when this is all over, increase home working and online conference calls which is not a bad thing for the environment re travel etc, however, the fundamental issue of childcare remains and until schools and holiday clubs etc open we are in this predicament of people perfectly able to work from home but not with young children who require full-time attention.

I have said it before, I admire working parents very much it is a real struggle at the best of times and now it must be really difficult Hats off to you all

[Twin mummy]

I’m a teacher in an independent prep school so it’s very different to what I’m used to. We are using teams and doing live check ins and videoed lessons. I’ve converted our 2nd sitting room into my workspace. Husband is upstairs in his study and teens are working in their rooms. Trying to keep it fairly professional, though one of the dogs made a cameo in a videoed lesson!

I did have to interrupt my husbands meeting the other day as I was due to go live with a lesson and the video upload I’d done the night before was corrupted.

I think these are such different circumstances that everyone needs to be flexible and do the best they can!

[Mexy02]

Originally Posted by GoldenAvalanche

Absolutely, I think people forget there are a lot of other reasons why working can be difficult beyond childcare. Thankfully my employer acknowledges this, people without children often get sidelined at times like these for not having such an obvious and visible issue.

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Totally , we are all human beings and all have different family set ups and homes . We don’t have any spare rooms so there’s me with my set up , ds1 doing uni work and ds2 doing school work from the same table . Unless work want to build me an extension then they have to put up with “ home noise “ because that’s what it is , mine and my children’s home not an office. I can’t work in the garden as I live near the hospital and all you can here daily are the ambulances so it’s quite disturbing if you aren’t use to it .

[DisneyDaffodil]

I’m not in the position of wfh, neither is my DH. However from a customer point of view, I completely appreciate actually managing to get to speak to someone on a phone at the moment so I’m more than happy to hear their children or dogs in the background. It must be far more difficult to work from home with children as unless you have other adults to help out, the children should take priority to be cared for and it must be very difficult to juggle it all. We all have to accept that these are not normal times and start to learn how to be more tolerant and understanding of the issues

[Derbydave4]

I am having to WFH for the first time as well as having to help home school two kids. My experience has been that most people I have spoken to are in a similar situation or just appreciate they can still contact you. I think there is an understanding that these are not normal times and the odd dog barking or interruption is accepted as long as it is just that.

[loobz]

my husband works from home usually (about 80%, there are visits to clients' offices required occasionally) but he's used to being home alone.

We now have our daughter working from home in her bedroom and my teenage son mainly staying in his room doing a mix of school work and gaming with friends on line. I'm not working so I probably do most of the interrupting!

These changes happened so quickly there wasn't time for most people to set themselves up with a home office and as schools and nurseries are closed people have no choice but to look after them - unfortunately young children need attention whether or not mummy and daddy are working.

Part of my husbands work recently has been assisting companies to set people up to enable them to work from home but some companies probably don't have the money to invest in equipment and so are probably happy to accept the limitations that the current situation brings. Remember the outrage from some about the budget that MP's were afforded to enable them to set up their staff to WFH for example?

In a way, I actually think it's nice to see people as more than just employees - they are mothers, fathers, carers, wives, husbands and if nothing else this pandemic should make us more accepting of the whole person.

[snowbelle]

Recently I read of a team doing a zoom call and one of the employees cracked open a bottle of gin in full view of the team.
My employers are family friendly ,understanding and open especially for those working from home at this time , but I think I would be looking for another job if my boss saw that!

[Beth_Disney]

Originally Posted by snowbelle

Recently I read of a team doing a zoom call and one of the employees cracked open a bottle of gin in full view of the team.
My employers are family friendly ,understanding and open especially for those working from home at this time , but I think I would be looking for another job if my boss saw that!

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Our daily calls are at 9am so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to do that either!

I do have a friend that's in a very different line of work to me and his team have a Zoom call at 4pm on a Friday where it's relaxed, there's a little 'pub-quiz' and they all drink a bottle of beer. They all log off for the weekend following that call. I think he's said before that they have Friday lunch time beers in the office too. Just goes to show that different professions/work places have quite different cultures and attitudes to what's acceptable.

[djewkes]

I’ve been working from home for 2.5 years now (first year only overtime hours) and I actually think I’m more effective than in the call centre... I don’t get interrupted by other people (asking for help/advice or just general chit chat), loo breaks are very short... only takes a few short steps to the bathroom instead of a longish walk there and back and a possible queue when I get there... chat with colleagues on the way back... and I’m not fraught from the drive in and looking for parking, finding a hot desk to work at etc...
Yes my dogs do bark occasionally but a quick apology to the person I’m talking to and usually all is fine... I haven’t children at home though and my DH keeps me supplied with coffee...

[LadyFromage]

I am furloughed and my husband is IT office based in central London but at the current time is WFH

Ive taken on the role of teacher for our 9 year old and our 14 year old has online lessons.

I will be back to work as soon as non essential shops open but unsure how thats going to work. The children are self sufficient and DH can continue to work in the dining room but he won't be able to teach DD2 at the same time.
His company will be having a phased return to the office but again, how will we manage without the schools/holiday camps open?