Watch: Is It Even A WFH Meeting If It's Not Interrupted By Family?

You open your laptop, get ready for the call/meeting and suddenly a family member starts screaming from behind. Then you shift to another room, where more family members start gathering and discussing random things that you definitely don't need for your work. And when you finally find a peaceful place to work, the network reachability is low! Those who term working from home as easy or no work at all, kindly listen to us because your bubble is going to burst violently. 

The Work From Home Meetings (And Interruptions) 

People choose to work from home to attain flexibility. With this option, they can not only work while being in their comfort zone but also manage other responsibilities of the house. People don't have to spend time and money on travelling or shifting base. 

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How work-from-home culture is still alien to society and families

The idea of working from home gained popularity during the pandemic. As the world was locked inside, companies started providing work-from-home options to keep the work running. And now it has somewhat become a norm. Many companies are providing permanent remote job options. 

But our society is still not used to it. Working from home is a concept still alien to Indian families. If they see their offspring staying at home (blind to the laptop and the work being done), they consider them unemployed and hence free. This is the reason why families have not adopted the rules and ethics of working from home. It's annoying yet hilarious. 

Families somehow interrupt the meetings when we ask everyone to be quiet for an hour or so. No matter how much we urge them to not walk into the room while we are in the meeting, make noise or call us by our nickname, they fail to follow. 

Dear families, we sit at home but not idle. We work as per the company's policy. We cannot decide when to have a meeting. And replying to your queries about what to eat doesn't help us look professional in the meetings. 

I remember I was in a meeting when the whistle of cooker went on. The organiser of the meeting started laughing and even asked what was being cooked. I was so embarrassed and apologised. 

Clearly, in Indian families, working from home means working from home with family. Until and unless families consider working from home seriously, they won't stop interrupting meetings or important tasks. In fact, even if they do, it will take a lot of time for them to adjust to the ethics of remote jobs. If we bring office to home, we have to take families to office.  

How employers can change the definition of professionalism

On the other hand, working from home itself signifies that it includes the dynamics of home. So the employer too, on a certain level, needs to understand that the employee is at home where things cannot be controlled. A few sounds from the kitchen and locality, people walking past, babies appearing in the meeting or the erratic nature of the network must not be counted as unprofessional. 

The very motto of working from home is to allow the employees to manage the house and work together. A bit of slippage of one into another is common and not a sign of being unprofessional. As the area of work has expanded from the companies' corridors to houses across the country, why shouldn't the definition of professionalism expand? 

Until families get used to the idea of not interrupting our meetings, dear employers, please cut some slack and widen what professionalism means.  

Views expressed are the author's own.