Day 92— And Counting

On the power of words, and faces now pixelated, by Caroline Sylvia, Associate Manager – Media

Here we are, amidst a pandemic we never imagined occurring in our time.

It also came with a lot of other things we never imagined — unlimited Work from Home.

There have been times we have all wished for this not knowing what we were really signing up for.

7 days into joining Dentsu Webchutney, the lockdown began in full swing and I had no idea that would be the last I see of my team in months! Wait, I never even got to meet my extended team on the 1st floor.

Starting off unlimited WfHs not really knowing anyone in the organization can be such a challenge. You do not know what to expect on the other side of a message or a call. It’s always a surprise. You just go on building a random mental image of every person based on their response, emojis and TOV. With every conversation, the image gets just a bit sharper. I do occasionally think about stalking them on LinkedIn like normal people do but I guess I just want to hold on to my own image for a while longer until I actually get to meet them, which I can’t wait to do!

We’ve long gone past the initial barrier of messaging someone you officially haven’t spoken to, to shamelessly WhatsApping them — desperate times call for desperate measures. Also, the fact that everyone’s on excessive amount of calls, it’s sensible to reach out to them via. WhatsApp/Teams now. (Real personal, eh?)

Communication just got clearer — emails more precise, calls more explanatory.

People are realizing the power of words and how a well-crafted email could possibly replace a meeting. This could change the way we work forever (not just remotely), and I’m excited to see how this could make us more productive when we get back to our offices.

All the coffee breaks and human interaction that we’ve missed throughout WfH makes you realize there is so much more to the world apart from the confines of your phone — every little thing such as smiling at your colleagues and asking “what’s up?” even though you don’t get a proper reply to it ( the correct response to it is “whaaaaaat’s up?” with more enthu, if you were wondering), grabbing coffee together, showing your favorite music collection off (especially when you can’t sing/play) and discussing the latest binge.

Every little thing you do, you do for yourself. But deep down, you don’t truly feel great about it until you’ve shared your latest find with someone else. Humans are built to be social animals. We find like-minded people and love to talk about our weird theories. Gosh, I miss people.

Now that we’ve kinda mastered the art of emails & virtual client meetings (even PITCHES!), post-lockdown when we are all back at work, we will not only be much more efficient, we’d also take that time out to talk and truly listen to others.

I know I haven’t really gotten to know anyone well in these 92 days — but I intend to. I can’t wait to put a face to all the names and voices I’ve heard so far.