With the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) changing almost all facets of life across the globe, a number of workplaces have put alternative mechanisms in place in order to maintain output by allowing employees to work from home.
Jasmin Harris, Public Relations Officer at the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), says that transitioning from working in the office to working remotely from home was quite easy for her. “I work at a technology company, so I was able to transition to working from home quite easily.” She adds that with the use of certain online platforms, she is able to complete tasks efficiently. “We utilize platforms such as Microsoft Teams, WebEx and Microsoft 365.”
Harris detailed that having to now work from home, she has been able to employ new and innovative virtual ways to get her job done. “I had to become creative, but I’m still able to execute well using the different online platforms,” Harris states. “The world today was already functioning on virtual platforms, this pandemic has only caused us to utilize those mediums a whole lot more.”
Like anyone else, however, the sudden changes that came about due to the global pandemic came with some major challenges for Harris and her team. “For most of us, working from home was not the norm – however, COVID-19 came and it [became] business as usual”, she further adds, while noting that major adjustments had to be made in order for her and her team to be able to synchronize with the demands that came with the global pandemic.
Rowen Willabus, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IntellectStorm, a software development company, says that with the use of online applications and platforms, work at his firmis continuing as per normal. “We use Slack, Google Docs, Google Sheets and Office365 [and they have] been very effective.”
Willabus explained that the only challenge that he has been facing is the rift in “in-person communication” due to the fact that 90% of the employees are not physically at work.
Stephon Nelson, an 18-year-old customer service representative at Teleperformance, explained that his job, which he describes as extremely “performance driven,” has been much easier for him while working from home as he seems to have a better opportunity to focus on the tasks to be completed. “We work by scores and I’ve noticed that since I started working from home, my scores have gotten higher because when I’m in the office I feel like I’m distracted by other people,” he says.
Nelson highlighted that working from home has also given him the opportunity to save more money as he no longer has to commute to and from work. “It’s been very economic for me as well… I’ve noticed that I don’t have to pay money to catch taxis… to work every day,” he adds.
According to him, he is also is now able to multitask by completing chores and working simultaneously, which saves a lot of time.
The customer service representative, however, admits that working from home has come with additional responsibilities, since the maintenance of the company’s equipment, which he now uses inside his home, is solely up to him, and if it were to be damaged he would have to stand the cost. “… If I do damage their stuff then I have to pay for it, but I think I’m responsible enough to not do that,” he says.
He is happy because he has the opportunity to work overtime hours without having to worry about being out late at night at the end of the shift. “…Our beds are right there so it’s not like you have to travel and going home late [with the] fear of being robbed and things like that.”
Kayla King, a captioner at Teleperformance, says that working remotely has thrown up some challenges. “The challenge I’m facing is the [problem] with calls,” she notes.
King adds that when problems like these arise at work, she would be able to inform her supervisor who would then advise her accordingly. However, while working from home, that support is not present.
King also says that for her, working from home has been cost-efficient since there was no need to purchase any of the equipment needed to complete her tasks effectively.
She notes that she hasn’t had any problem with having access to the internet, but constant blackouts would affect her work efficiency.
She also says that working two jobs and having to go to both sites on a daily basis had become extremely tiring. “What used to happen is that I would have to travel to Teleperformance exactly after to work… being there as soon as I got off from work was a bit tiring but now that I can work at home, I don’t have to think about travelling from Teleperformance and going home late at night.”
