For parents concerned about whether or not the post-pandemic workplace will mean returning to a time when you only saw your kids dropping them off at school and in their beds sleeping after work, fret not. Signs are optimistic that hybrid working arrangements are here to stay.
The advent of time-saving tech such as artificial intelligence (AI) work tools is also helping, and Singaporean organisations are at the forefront of using them to aid hybrid workers. According to Slack’s State of Work 2023 report, 30% of locally based companies invest in tech to improve efficiencies, making Singapore second only to India.
Employers are also coming around to the benefits of hybrid work. Neetha Nair, Chief Human Resources Office at Prudential Officer, shared with HR World how the British multinational insurance company “offers its workers the flexibility to work from anywhere, anytime through flexible working hours, hybrid working arrangements and flexible workplace options”.
“This enables employees to balance their work and personal commitments and optimise their productivity”, she said.
But there lies the rub – while it’s nice to spend more time with your kids, the need to meet both professional and parenting key performance indicators (KPIs) while working from home can be a tough juggle as well.
Even though tech has proven a boon in maintaining communication with colleagues via Zoom, Team or Skype video calls, everyone remembers “BBC Dad”, or Professor Robert Kelly, who was explaining South Korean politics live when his two children, Marion and James, barged in.
Here are some tips below to help you ease into hybrid work with little friction.
Communicate effectively with your colleagues
In Singapore’s kiasu society, looking weak tends to be a path best avoided. This means many working parents tend to be concerned that if they don’t look like they’re juggling work and the home front well, it could reflect badly come appraisal time.
But the fact is, you’re not alone – in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, most bosses and managers are more understanding than they’ve ever been in modern workplace history, given we all went through the same experiences together, from CEO to cleaner. Your colleagues and bosses might even be in the same situation.
Honesty is always the best policy, so just let your boss or co-workers know if your kids are sick, or when you need to be offline to cook lunch for your children or pop into a parent-teacher video call. It’s worse if you don’t communicate why you’ve disappeared off work channels; they might think less charitable thoughts instead.
Scheduling helps hybrid working parents
On work-from-home days, your kids might think that since mummy or daddy is home, it’s open season to ask to buy Roblox credits or demand a mid-day ice cream run at the neighbourhood store. And it feels terrible when they look at you with cute pleading faces, but you have to turn them down because you’re on the clock at work.
Create a daily schedule and display it in the house to show when you’re free or working. Perhaps even dress differently when you’re in work mode at home, so the kiddos know when it’s work time for you and when it’s time for family fun.
This way, they won’t feel hurt as well when you must turn them down, and everyone will be on the same page.
And don’t feel alone if you feel working-parent guilt. It happens to all of us, even to Minister for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling.
In a social media post, she previously shared how she, too, experiences the same angst at not being able to spend as much time as she would like with her kids.
“I jolted awake at 4.30 am this morning with one thought: my kids’ childcare was closed from today till the end of the year, and I have nothing planned for the kids starting today. Nothing,” she revealed.
“The kids will be stuck at home watching TV the whole day with the helper while I go to work. I have three meetings in the day and five hours I will spend this evening in Punggol. I will not have time for them.”
She admitted to frantically searching online for a suitable activity for them and said: “I only stopped when I found an outdoor playground near where I will meet in the west this morning.
“Thank you, NParks! The kids can play there while I have my meeting. And then I can drop them at home during lunch while I go to the office.”
“I breathed a sigh of relief. I felt better. Less guilty.
She concluded: “Why do we do this to ourselves? Does it matter to the kids — one more playground adventure?”
“I don’t know, it’s most probably marginal. But it matters to me that I tried to be a good mother.
“And now I can only pray it doesn’t rain…”
Amusingly, she added an update at the end of her post, concluding: “Update at 7.30 am: kids have just woken up. They say they want to stay at home and draw.”
Enough said.
Multitasking is unsustainable
Some parents do try to do it all, such as taking work calls while on the morning commute. But our brains are far less efficient when working on multiple tasks.
Sooner or later, something’s got to give. Either mistakes start popping up at work, or the kids feel like you’re not truly present. You can’t do it all, no matter what the self-help books promise, so start picking your priorities, and accepting that some things may need to be let go.
You may love how clean and spartan your home is and how Lego-free the floors are, but if keeping to those standards with severe multi-tasking is just one too many a task to juggle, let certain tasks side first.
Read more: 4 Tips to Take Care of Your Mental Health As a Parent
Feeling overwhelmed as a hybrid working parent?
Being pulled in several directions at once can lead to feelings of burnout. While some parents tend to use their leave days for family vacations during school holidays, it’s not the worst idea to put some aside just for me-time to care for your own mental health and well-being.
If you still have issues juggling everything, talk to your boss or a professional for help. You’re not alone. Ultimately, the solution may be a bit of organisation at the workplace and home to balance your career and parenting priorities, rather than feeling stressed or guilty about your perceived professional or parenting failures.
