NEW YORK–Many credit unions have announced plans to have employees work from home where possible as they seek to reduce the risk from the coronavirus COVID19. For some CU employees, it will mean working alongside their spouses, partners or others who have also been ordered to work from home. In response, one person is offering some steps to ensure domestic tranquility and to avoid “resentment from taking root under your floorboards and bursting into your living room while the dog cowers…”
Writing on Quartz.com, News Editor Susan Howson, who has begun working from home along with her partner, shared these strategies:
Establish Zones and Stick to Them
:You need a zone. They need a zone. The kitchen has to be a common zone, or you will inevitably have a situation where one of you has 20 minutes to eat and the other one of you is in a meeting in which they do not want a co-star,” Howson wrote.
“Set aside any feelings of late-capitalism absurdity and go ahead and text each other, or even set up your own Slack group or other chat channel to communicate from different rooms…You also need, if possible, a neutral zone where you can meet to work together when you suddenly realize, ‘Oh wait, I get to spend all day with this person who is supposedly my favorite.’”
Howson added, “Should you need to occupy the other’s zone, you must first ask permission to approach. My partner holds what sound like very productive meetings in the dining room, while I require the office upstairs. Sometimes we meet in the living room to work together on the couch. We feel something approaching fondness at these times.”
Make Your Limitations Known
“I work in the news business, which means constant deadlines as well as activities like reading, editing, or writing, during which I cannot hear a human voice or my nerves will audibly snap,” said Howson.
I spent a couple of weeks offending my partner by walking away mid-conversation or not paying attention to him while he talked. Finally, we just had a grownup chat about it, and I reserved some rights.”
Decide Who Will Do What, and When, Around Your Home
“One of the nicest things about working from home is that you can plan for deliveries, laundry, or dog walks according to your schedule,” said Howson. “But now there are two schedules to work around. If the doorbell rings and you are not in a meeting or in a terrible time crunch, get it—and insist this favor is repaid to you in kind.”
Come Up With a Plan the Minute the Unexpected Happens
Howson advised that if a person has a child and that child comes home sick, “you must decide who will be point-person during various blocks of time. Failure to do this can and will plant the seed of the Resentment Tree and water it with Oh You Think Your Job is More Important Than Mine elixir. When a situation arises, you must agree to never, ever respond with a simple “I mean, I’ve got a really busy day.” We all have busy days. The correct answer is “Here is what I can offer.” Generosity breeds generosity.”
Preserve Your Breaks
“You need a rule that anyone taking a break cannot be accosted, so that their precious four minutes until their next meeting is not filled with the recap of the other person’s last meeting,” wrote Howson. “This is one of the easiest rules to insist upon when you’re the one enforcing it, and the hardest one to abide by when you’re the one who needs to vent. But remember, you have work friends for that. They’re on Slack, they know all the backstory already, and they won’t be sleeping next to you tonight.”
The full article can be found here.