Working from home has normally had 2 major criteria: an employer’s directive and the nature of your work. But the compulsory element has put a new spin on it.
What is often overlooked is how it fits your personality and this will in fact be the dominant marker in terms of whether or not you enjoy your home as your new office. Obviously a major determinant will be your environment and its logistics. Do you have a 4-bedder with a massive garden or a 1 room bedsit with a dodgy internet connection? Do you have a young baby who historically has kept you awake at night and is now keeping you awake in the day?
The type of work you do is also important. Is it very people interactive or just predominantly online?
And whether this new modus operandi suits you or not will largely be dictated by your personality type.
If you are an Influencer who thrives on people interaction and needs scope to compete and demonstrate your prowess and aptitude for business development then the lockdown will not suit you. The Influencer needs pace, recognition and variety. Their lockdown will be a lock in.
The Supporter/Facilitator is a strong people-first type. Their natural propensity is people-centric and particularly from the perspective of help, train and support. They too prefer the real personal contact especially with friends where they can gossip and see facial reactions. Screens are too impersonal and they find people react differently and are not the same as they remember their 1-2-1s.
The dominant focus of the other 2 personality types is different. The Analyst and Creative are more scientific and deductive in the workplace.They will firstly concentrate on the task to be done and secondary the people to do it. They are pragmatic and will carefully attend to the stats and their computational significance rather than the journalistic hype. For many there will be little change as they have already been working from home.
When it’s all over the Influencer will be the first out and like mad March hares will make the most of their freedom from what they considered to be a prison. The Supporter will have established new methods of chatting, communicating and keeping in touch but will look forward to the opportunity to meet personally. The Analyst and Creative will continue online and in some cases wonder what all the fuss was about!
You can now add a new personality dimension for discussion on the virus and its societal implications.
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