Covid-19 Changes Working Culture

By Vincent Malunga | 22 February 2022

When countries the world over started implementing the first lockdowns due to Covid-19, early in 2020, many of us thought, they would be short, and life would return to the normal we knew quickly. Many braved the masks, sanitisers, booze bans and most importantly, working from home. But as the pandemic has persisted, what was meant to be temporary precautions have become popular culture.

One such feature is working from home. At first, some people were happy about working from home. There were cost savings associated with non-commute and ability to balance work and personal life right in the home. Employers fretted about reduced productivity as employees would be distracted by personal tasks and lack of supervision. Zoom and team meetings emerged as the primary way to interact with colleagues, manage, and track work remotely.

Before long, those excited about staying home started feeling isolated and detached from teams, juniors and bosses. It quickly emerged as a reminder that the workplace is one of the key places for social interaction with others. Talking to them only during calls does not provide the same level of personal feeling that going into work provides. Thus, work became less socially interactive.

While there was a fear of loss of productivity, working from home may also have forced staff to become more productive and output driven. After all, when your boss does not see much of you, you cannot be pretending to be working just by your presence. Deliverables are much more visibly the only way to prove your contribution.

Ironically, some colleagues may talk more during lock down and enforced working from home than when in the office, where they just hide in their cubicles and avoid talking to people. With regularly and formally scheduled calls enforced by lockdowns, they are actually forced to speak to colleagues about something – especially work.

Another interesting feature of lockdown-initiated culture is informal dress. People have become noticeably casual in their work dress. It has become more acceptable to dress informally even when attending formal calls. Unfortunately, some have taken this a bit too far, and ended up caught naked or semi-naked on candid cameras!

Furthermore, while company budgets for teas, coffees and cookies may have come down, their connectivity costs may have increased. On the other hand, employee home costs for food and drink may have gone up and contributed to bulging waistlines.

Nowadays, cheaters have perfect excuses for staying on the phone for hours in the name of online collaboration with colleagues.

I am sure there are various other ways in which Covid-19 has changed the work culture. However, what is true is that the way people work has changed, and even when people go back to the office, these changes may persist. I would not be surprised to see 5 people in the same office space having a Zoom call with each other and asking each other to keep it down because they are on a call! Covid-19 thy name is change!

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This article is also published in the CEO East Africa Magazine submitted by us.