Lockdown CEO Diaries: From hating work from house, Frederic Widell, VP-Head of South Asia & MD, Oriflame India has come a extended way to pondering of it as an option work selection.
In the starting when the lockdown was announced he didn’t have any committed workspace at house. It wasn’t an selection for him then. “To be honest I hated working from home. I always felt when you come home after a long day at work you need time to disconnect,” says Widell.
He even had doubts about working and managing his organization remotely. “I was very skeptical, I was also fearful of what would happen, and how could I lead the team effectively from home. I was a bit worried about Oriflame in general, in India,” he says.
But, he immediately adapted and developed various workspaces to cater to unique work demands. “I do many different types of meetings, it could be one to one, one to 10, one to 2,000, or even one to 5,000. So, I invested in new technological support tools for these varied requirements,” says Widell.
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For his massive public appearances, he constructed a house studio with a tripod, a screen to project on, lapel mics, LED Ring Lights amongst other individuals. Then there is a good lounge setting with his house library as the backdrop. And lastly, there is his favourite outside workspace exactly where he spends most of his time, specially in the months of February and November when the climate is good in Delhi. “That’s where I do more internal stuff with my staff because it can get a bit noisy due to the birds,” he says.
But, what helped him keep his productivity is sticking to the similar work schedule as prior to. “I very quickly realised that I have to adapt to the same discipline as before,” he says. He kept to a related sleeping pattern, meal timings and working hours. “I think that’s difficult for many people, but I’m happy that I managed that,” he says.
What he was cautious about was not overworking. “It’s very easy from home that you overwork. Somebody sends you an email and there is a feeling to reply immediately. So, when I stopped working I distanced myself from the computer and read a book or watched Netflix. It is important because there’s a day tomorrow also,” says Widell.
But, would he go back to his original schedule as soon as the workplace reopens? “I will not revert back to 100% office attendance when the pandemic is over. I think I will probably practice three days in the office and two days from home,” he says.
The year has taught him what performs although working from house and what does not. Work from house definitely performs for person work that demands peace and quiet. But, it does not work for culture creating or collaboration. “Creativity, innovation and brainstorming is difficult while working remotely and it can impact the business in the long term. So I also want to be in office at least three days a week and meet people at work,” he says.