Successful Work From Home Strategy Means ‘Integration’

People world over are now looking at working from home strategy more in terms of integration tool that ‘absence of conflict’. The latter was a concept coined at a time when women starting moving out of home to work. They were expected to juggle a lot of balls in the air- work, children, home chores and personal life. A successful work-life balance concept then meant ‘absence of conflict’.

But with the pandemic induced lockdowns, physical work boundaries have been redefined, not just for women but for men alike.  Coined by business scholar and professor at the prestigious Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Steward Friedman in the 90’s said that work life balance should be seen more in terms of the rewarding goal of ‘integration’.

This has become truer than ever before, where he was referring to symbiotic relationship of synergies between work and personal life, in such a way that both objectives were met, without the pressure of maintaining a balance.  According to Psychologists Jeffery Greenhaus and Saroj Parasuraman have described integration as “when attitudes in one role positively spill over into another role, or when experiences in one role serve as resources that enrich another role in one’s life”.

Indeed, the world is learning to understand that in the Covid-19 times, integration is going to help us juggle multiple roles that we play both in our professional and personnel lives.  So couples are learning to divide home chores between hectic work schedules and phone calls. Children are being consulted to solve some office challenges, while teaching them that mom or dad is really working hats off at office. Parents are learning to be home tutors again and basic unity and synergy at home has become paramount for each of these individuals to meet their personal goals. In coming times, synergy is going to be the real way to make things go ahead.  It also been observed that now that personal and professional space cannot be said to be kept in tight compartments, there is a sense of comfort in intermingling both and this also helps employees and their bosses feel more humane and empathize a lot more with each other.