Breakfast with her father is equal to a business meeting for Gulshan director

Yukti Nagpal, Director at Gulshan, realised that working from home is more efficient than regular working days.

She told ET Panache, "It is because when in a virtual meeting, everyone’s 100 per cent focus is on the subject of discussion. Whereas, in a regular office setting, one is always distracted by refreshments, calls, unannounced walk-ins and what nots. In the beginning of the lockdown, all of us directors made sure we have a dedicated working space, and uninterrupted connectivity. We started having meetings on every alternate day, then moved to weekly and now monthly. It helped each of our employees be at ease in this new normal. And thus became the go to way of working or meeting."

Tool aid

Zoom is the company's go-to conferencing app. For mapping productivity, they have been using task manager for smooth reporting and follow-ups, along with the robust ERP software that keeps working transparent. Nagpal usually changes her shirt for meetings.

"The biggest challenge was ensuring that all our teams were willing to make this change, and deal with what life has brought upon us. There was low motivation in employees pertaining to the uncertainty of the situation, and a sense of panic as to what comes next. Also, a large percentage of employees are over the age of 40, which means less hands-on experience with technology. With that being said, we have been lucky that our employees were willing to do whatever is required to ensure the achievement of organisational goals. We achieved that by being honest about everything, keeping the communication two way, and giving our employees all the answers, they were seeking. Once they had clarity, their loyalty was more than ever and together we stand tall as one powerful team who will face whatever challenges life brings us, and overcome them," she said.

Exercise notes
Nagpal starts her day with quick stretches, mostly Surya Namaskar to ensure an energetic start to the day before heading down for breakfast.

"Working with your father means breakfast is equal to business meeting, so this is when we usually decide our work timeline. The rest of the day is spent on phone calls or video calls or emails. To balance work and personal life, we adopted some rules for coexisting, for example, no work talk during dinner, and one hour gossip or games daily with my grandmother. We also spent a good amount of time with video streaming apps in the first month of lockdown. Now, however, we are all actively available at our sales and site offices. Other than the corporate offices, almost everything is back to normal, rather the new normal," she said.

Food choices
Nagpal's whole family has been quite motivated to eat right. They have collectively been fasting intermittently, and incorporated a lot of changes in the way their food is cooked.

"Also, we ensure we walk at least 8-10k steps a day with my father winning every day with 16,000 steps average. Counting my steps, that’s an absolutely new addition to my lifestyle. Plus, before the lockdown, I was always a food critic but I couldn’t cook to save my life. Now, I’m a full-blown chef with quite the connoisseurs’ skills," she said.