Lockdown - your opinions/observations

[BlueNirvana]

On a personal note, the big negative was the rest of the NHS effectively shutting down to deal with Covid.

GP and consultant appointments by phone. Being prescribed medication without actually seeing a doctor. Painkillers that don't kill the pain but are the maximum that can be given due to covid.

My condition is deteriating daily, only likely to be fixed by surgery. God knows when that will be. Trying hard not to crawl into A&E and saying fix me!

Best wishes to you go get yourself fixed

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

Mad. Everyone dealt with it in their own way but even if you've found it fine you must know people who haven't which should affect you? Lots of my mates in serious relationships have had big wobbles shall we say, so even if I'm OK i feel for them and that isn't nice, nevermind families who were locked in flats or whatever else

Had a few beers in town since pubs were open. Most staff great, but a fraction of the people in everywhere they were working for them to serve. Hope everyone can see it out whatever their situation and however long this all lasts

 

[idahoblues]

Mad. Everyone dealt with it in their own way but even if you've found it fine you must know people who haven't which should affect you? Lots of my mates in serious relationships have had big wobbles shall we say, so even if I'm OK i feel for them and that isn't nice, nevermind families who were locked in flats or whatever else

Had a few beers in town since pubs were open. Most staff great, but a fraction of the people in everywhere they were working for them to serve. Hope everyone can see it out whatever their situation and however long this all lasts

Just a guestion? At what point would you disregard what you're being told what to do?

 

[idahoblues]

Just a guestion? At what point would you disregard what you're being told what to do?

That question could provide many answers to some threads on here

 

[UUJblue]

Good idea for a thread....

I've not had many negative experiences, I've worked from home, at work I normally have 4 large screens to operate on, but at home its one small laptop, but with a hires screen, unfortunately my work glasses were stuck in my locker at work, so had to use my old ones at home until I could get a new eye test and prescription, only got the new ones 2 weeks ago, huge improvement.

Not missed the office at all, not missed commuting at all, I only filled my car up last week first time since the end of Feb.

My office has probably been better at communicating with each other in lockdown than when in office, thanks to skype, and I'm pretty sure we've all been more productive/managed time better. Normally we email each other, even if we are only a few desks apart, but we've chatted on skype like friends, both about work, but also other parts of life, and email traffic has only been important stuff (mostly).

Nature, I/we have loved it, seen and heard far more than I'm normally aware of, its often been so quiet you can hear things you never hear.

Missed seeing my family, normally see my lad at the football, and visit my parents every couple of months, but all are good, and we chat regularly, met our daughter yesterday for the first time since christmas, in a place I'd never have gone otherwise, picked from google earth as a halfway house, and we enjoyed a brilliant 5 mile walk in a truly beautiful place, appreciating what a wonderful countryside we have.

We've enjoyed local walks, even in town, or it's local surroundings, and seen things we wouldn't see in our "normal" lives.

We've changed our shopping habits, instead of shopping small and often, we've gone back to weekly, changed supermarkets, to Waitrose, and yet saved money, in fact we've saved a lot of money overall.

All in all for me, it's been a positive experience, and a number of things I intend to persist with, such as working from home as much as I can, I will have to return to the office in a few weeks, but I'm hoping we will continue the way we are working.

We work 2 shifts, but we've done 1 shift in the office, and 1 shift from home (luckily I've only done the home shift until now), but I'm hopeful we'll persist with this as it has worked well, and I'm happy to do my office shifts when required, but there won't be many.

You should push your company more to make your WFH life more comfortable or your situation will get difficult very soon. My company gave us an allowance to purchase desks and equipment -i got an extra monitor. Plus after a few weeks they they considered getting into the office individually for 1 hour on our own and i picked up some notes and a head set. Noone was in except security and it required a lot of approval. I laughed because the place has been gutted of monitors and equipment!

I think my company is saving so much on travel and office expenses, that they were able to share those budgets out to their staff! Plus we could see a larger shift if office space usage overall as i have many companies reducing or planning to drop their office space and rent or lease very short term per month for meetings or meet-ups (even a hotel conference room etc).

 

[cleavers]

You should push your company more to make your WFH life more comfortable or your situation will get difficult very soon.

Because of who I work for, and what we do, I'm fairly confident that we won't be changing any time soon, and it's working for both us and our customers. My WFH conditions are fine for me, not ideal but I'm more than happy with them.

 

[Northernstorirs]

Not sure how other businesses will approach the future but I think where I am there's strong indications that WFH will now be ongoing with the odd meetings taking place at head office. Until lockdown, WFH was taboo but think they have learnt to trust their workforce given we've performed just as effectively (if not more) with when we are working from the office.

Businesses will be looking to see how soon they can get out of office space leases to reduce overheads.

I have enjoyed WFH, there's definitely a greater work life balance and evenings seem longer. I've been able to run during my lunch breaks, cook healthier lunches and do domestic chores during work breaks freeing up time in the evening. I've been able to complete more work with less meetings and people are unable to come up to your desk unannounced. I've saved money from not using the car as much as well.

Down side is email traffic has severely increased which I find annoying and I miss office banter with colleagues. Sometimes being able to sit working with your team allows certain challenges to be resolved in 30 seconds but WFH involves several emails.

 

[shemnel]

huge game of give and take, pros and cons etc., most of which have been listed on this thread; more time at home, more time in the local community, time to reflect, working at home, feeling cooped up, feeling under control, and so on.

i'd say the paradox i have encountered is the increase desire to stay in the local area and get involved and live a quieter more sustainable life, coupled with the realisation that travelling to new and far flung places is one of my absolute primary passions.

 

[UUJblue]

Because of who I work for, and what we do, I'm fairly confident that we won't be changing any time soon, and it's working for both us and our customers. My WFH conditions are fine for me, not ideal but I'm more than happy with them.

Thats good i guess - i think morale and mental health may be the next issue as WFH becomes a norm. My employer put out this communication today.

we are obviously considering the longer-term impact of COVID-19 on our workforce and our workplace. Specifically, the pandemic has forced us to adopt a remote/home-based “Global working experiment” for over 96% of our employees, providing an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate learnings and accelerate our thinking on more flexible working. Clearly this needs careful consideration foremost of which is how do we continue to nurture our outstanding culture and support individual needs for collaboration, productivity and socialization. In simple terms, how do we expand the ability to enable longer term flexible working but continue to provide an environment that delivers on our People Promise of Vibrancy, Happiness and Belonging.

We have had quizes, talent shows and all sorts of mental health apps, meetings and links - plus the financial allowance to make my workspace better. they are very people orientated and i think more companies should adopt this mantra.