Love Thy Others on This Valentine’s Day

The pandemic has been really hard on many people. Being allowed to work from home was a blessing to many others, especially parents or caregivers of the elderly. Now, many companies are trying to get their workforce back to pre-pandemic strength; one of the ways is to request their employees to return to working in their workplace and eliminate remote working. While I love the flexibility of remote working, I do understand in some roles, remote working just doesn’t cut it, typically in the service industry.

But this post isn’t about companies forcing their staff back into the office or the merits of remote working (I know I am a heavy advocator of freelancing). I am writing about understanding your cubicle neighbour, your teammates and your peers if they need more time to adjust to getting back to the office. Give a little leeway if they are slightly late for work because of the longer commute to work (no longer jumping from bed to table). Have compassion when they need to go on urgent time off because their kid is sick (again!). Close an eye (and your mouth) if your colleague needs to leave an hour early because he needs to rush to take his parent to a medical appointment.

It took companies weeks, if not months, to iron out the kinks of remote working. We all had to get used to conducting one-on-one meetings via Zoom, unproductive conference calls, poor internet connections, and slower-than-snails laptops. We can apply the same considerations to employees adjusting to life back in the office.

Bosses should consider implementing flexible working hours/days a week instead of returning to 9-to-6, 5 days a week. Colleagues should be open-minded and generous in covering the gaps.

So don’t be so quick to judge your fellow coworkers. We all need some love and care this Valentine’s Day. We are humans, after all.