Working from home in the days of coronavirus

“Stay home.” Most American workers in non-essential jobs got that message late last week or early this week. They join the millions of workers in China, South Korea, Italy and North America who have had to discover the joys and pains of working remotely as concerns about coronavirus spread throughout the world.

At DeLaune, we have found working remotely a plus, using Zoom and Teams conferencing to continue to have face-to-face interactions with co-workers and clients. While there is a tendency to leave the conference call camera off to display a static image or no photo at all, we have found having the live camera shot, despite messy hair or an untidy room in the background, worth it for the personal interaction.

Green screen to the rescue

One feature I especially love with my computer camera is the “green screen.” I can choose my background photo, preferring a tidy office or empty conference room background. I keep looking at the knick-knacks on office shelves in the image behind me and wonder how they would look in my real office.

To no one’s surprise

As this NPR article states, some personalities fare better with home officing than others – the introverts tending to like it more than the extroverts, to no one’s surprise.

A study cited in Inc. Magazine suggests people are actually more productive while working remotely. They often put in more hours since they don’t have to commute or even leave their office for lunch. And their quality of life increases with more family time and a less expensive lifestyle with no transportation or lunch costs.

Changing the workforce of tomorrow?

Of course, some jobs can’t be done remotely, but in the coronavirus environment of today, more employees are working from home. Will this lead to a future where thousands of employees work productively from home? Will this change the workforce of tomorrow? Only time will tell.

At DeLaune, we have implemented a global work-from-home policy for all our employees and we are continuing to provide digital marketing content to our clients as needed.

We are here to help and encourage you to reach out to us with any questions. We wish everyone a safe and healthy time in the weeks ahead.