How was your experience working from home? While it did seem like a good break, the unexpected shift of remote working presented some issues that were difficult to deal with. Along with maiming profits, delayed appraisals, curbed salaries, increase in time spent doing work and disrupting respective corporate cultures, COVID-19 also impacted employees in ways they didn’t bargain for.
Problems Faced While Working From Home
- Detachment & Isolation: Whichever industry you work in, a workplace gives you a sense of shared purpose and connection. With lesser opportunities of bonding and interaction while working from home, team members began to feel more isolated and disengaged from their workplace. No amount of video conferences can fix this feeling of detachment and isolation.
- Loss of Focus: While some enjoyed an isolated space where they could concentrate on their work, most didn’t have a remote space they could comfortably work from. Distraction by family members, pets and other factors caused more stress and lack of focus.
- Mental Health Issues: Given the state of affairs during the early onset of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, it was easy to get stressed about the future. Feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness and frustration were common across all age groups. Working from home made it difficult to reach out to colleagues and friends for support. In a study we conducted, we found that around 43% Indians were plagued with depression. A number that only saw an upward trend. “Anxiety is one of the symptoms of depression. Most people are anxious on various counts. For some it is about not having a regular routine as they did in normal times,” says Divya Thampi, an Emotional Wellness Coach on GOQii Play. To read more about the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, read the report here.
- Overwhelmed With New Tech: We already use a significant amount of apps and softwares daily. In the business landscape, everything is driven by data and tech. Adaptability aside, the sudden onset of the pandemic and the subsequent remote working scene forced us to work with new tools for scheduling, conferencing, managing, etc. faster than before.
- Feedback, Recognition & Guidance: During pre-lockdown times, it was easy for a manager to step up to your desk to share positive feedback or guide you. In a remote working environment, this form of interaction has suffered greatly. Lack of feedback, recognition and guidance can make one feel further isolated, doubt their skills or lose confidence in their work.
- Health & Wellbeing: Disruption of routine also meant that people were tied down to their couches, beds or desks at home with little movement. Those walks after lunch, chasing trains and any little movement we had while we worked from the office were tossed out the window. Eating habits also suffered and with work hours extending for some, sleep suffered greatly – only adding to stress.
At GOQii, we believe that a healthy employee is a happy employee and a happy employee is a productive employee. Sadly, that was not the case during the lockdown. In view of these issues which are quite persistent even now, what can corporations do to motivate their employees, build team spirit, foster bonding, improve health and increase productivity?
GOQii Corporate Challenge
What if we told you that there was a fun way to build team spirit, improve health and performance at work? The GOQii Corporate Challenge – an inter-corporate health challenge, can be the solution you’ve been looking for.
It’s a 60 day engagement program, starting from 13th December to 10th February, where corporates can get their employees to participate on an individual, team and corporate level. The challenges will consist of a 30 day steps challenge and daily social media spot challenges (where you can win daily prizes) – all tracked by a live leaderboard.
The program also consists of daily fitness sessions i.e. 150+ sessions in 60 days starting with Yoga, Mind and Body sessions at 7 AM, Health Talks at 3 PM and High Intensity Workout sessions at 7 PM.
What’s more, at the end of the GOQii Corporate Challenge, 1 in every 4 players stands a chance to win exciting prizes such as hotel stays, luxury watches, smartphones, gadgets and exclusive merchandise.
A little bit of healthy competition like this, can definitely ease the strain left by COVID-19 and build team spirit while most of us return to the office!
If you’re keen on participating, sign up your corporation for the GOQii Corporate Challenge to take advantage of exciting rewards – the best one being good health!
Sign up here: https://gcc.goqii.com/
#BeTheForce
Being healthy encompasses many factors. While it involves working out, it isn’t just about working out or being active. You have to also look at other parameters such as nutrition, sleep, managing stress, et al. In fact, even introducing new habits and tweaking existing ones can do wonders for your health. All of this might seem difficult to manage by yourself, but when you get the right guidance from a certified expert, it can really change your life – as experienced first hand by our Player, Kaushik Dey. 
“Doctor please help! Half of my body does not move anymore” came a slurry cry from a helpless Vinod Agrawal, a businessman. His wife stood next to him in the emergency department weeping profusely and their 16 year old son watched his parents helplessly.
