- 5 years ago
10 December 2021
It’s time. You’re double vaccinated, the office is progressively opening up, and your colleagues are starting to filter back in but the thought of returning to the office fills you with dread. Sure, they’re all super excited about reconnecting, talking on Teams about chats in the office corridors while you’re still stuck at home in your ‘active wear’, hair uncut, office etiquette long forgotten.
Fear not! As Australia is somewhat behind Europe and the US in returning to the office, there are plenty of helpful videos out there to give you a hand and, in the interests of serious industry research, MedNews has scoured these sources to find the most useful information for Australia’s pharma employees.
For a start, it’s good to remember we have done this before, albeit briefly in Melbourne. Hence, this helpful video from local expert Jimmy Rees is a good place to start when considering the dos and don’ts of office etiquette.
Many are starting in a new job having been onboarded in Covid, so deciding what to wear is important. Like any first day in a new job, first impressions count so, while you may have lived in your ugg boots for months, it is not appropriate office attire. Wearing a jacket or even shoes with laces or heels may feel strange, but it’s better than arriving in the office underdressed, as this helpful video from the UK explains.
Months of lockdown can also mean that for some people, their interpersonal skills are a little rusty. Countless hours of online meetings using Zoom, Teams, Google Meetups, and Webex mean many have forgotten what it is like to work in an office, or to actually attend a meeting in-person.
Matching your pyjamas with a blazer is probably not going to cut it, so it’s best to think more creatively. Like pairing lycra tights with a skirt or long top, or swapping your board shorts for budgie smugglers and wearing them under long pants. It will ensure you still feel like you are in your house gear even if the surroundings are less familiar.
If it helps, write on your hand that there is no ‘mute’ button when you are physically at work and, perhaps even more importantly, that you can’t turn your camera off. For those struggling to remember exactly how this works, it means everything you do can be seen by other people, so if you’re bored, or you want to do some other work on the side, the simple answer is – don’t.
There is a lot of upside in physically leaving home and going into the office. Think of the healthy snacks companies provide, or how good it will be for your waistline when you can’t just go to the fridge or the pantry and eat whatever you want. Leave the chocolate bars and ice cream at home and just eat whatever you take with you. Those Covid kilos will be gone in no time!
There’s no doubt not everyone wants to be back in the office. Even in Germany some professionals had a hard time adjusting, but there is always help at hand. Human resources may have spent lockdown months sending pot plants and care packages to staff while hosting trivia nights to keep you all engaged, but these friendly HR people are also capable of giving you a helping hand if you’re struggling to adapt, so make sure you reach out.
Returning to the office is easy for some and hard for others, but it’s a step everyone needs to take sooner or later. Hopefully, with these helpful tutorials, you now feel a little more adjusted and ready to take that step back in but if you haven’t managed to do so yet, you’ve still got time to find that courage.
This pandemic year ends in just three weeks, meaning the clock starts again giving you 365 days to find the courage to go back to the office.
©MedNews 2021