GuruQ CEO shares back-to-office routine; includes cruising through scenic highways, online meetings & new safety protocols

Minal Anand, CEO of GuruQ has her office in Faridabad while she lives in Gurgaon.

"I take the Gurgaon-Faridabad scenic highway to commute to office. It has been a welcome change to drive through the highway with its idyllic views after almost four months of working from home," she told ET Panache.

Anand is quite impressed by the strict safety protocols that everybody is following to ensure that work does not get hampered.


Safety measures
"From sanitising the entire car from outside, to mandatory temperature checks and frequent sanitisation procedures, I have realised that most of us have come to terms with the fact that we have to live our lives alongside the pandemic as it is a long-term guest. Since we can no longer hold back our economy, we have to buckle up our systems and processes and keep the workplace running," she says.

Their office is quite spacious and following social distancing norms is not a challenge. "We have ensured that there is considerable space between desks, that employees wear masks all the time and sanitise their hands every now and then. We have asked them to bring their own coffee mugs and tea cups and not use those bought from public shops outside the office. Our courier delivery service providers are asked to place their packages at a designated place and all letters are opened after leaving them idle for 24 hours. Even in our toilets, we have replaced hand towels with tissue papers that can be used and thrown," Anand shares.

Personal protection
Going back to normal is not something that Anand was expecting. "We all are learning to adapt to the new change. I personally, ensure that I do not touch my face at all and ask others to develop that same habit. We are not holding face-to-face meetings and continue to hold them online. That said, working in an office helps me engage with my team and strategise about our plans for future operations. Since edtech has got a boom during this pandemic, we have to cater to increasing demands of our customers," she said.

The only thing that Anand and her colleagues are doing is ensuring that they abide by stringent safety norms and do not take the situation for granted.

"The pace of work has obviously changed but we are recalibrating our business operations to ensure that work gets done. We are also flexible with those employees who still prefer to work from home due to their personal constraints. Collaboration has taken a whole new meaning these days where we have to make additional efforts to stay connected with peers and work together," she says.

Most of the staff is coming to the office. "However, we have allowed certain members to continue to work from home, especially young mothers with children who cannot be left alone at home," she says.

Some tips
Anand advises other bosses looking to open their office to use digital systems to communicate and not hold in-person meetings.

"Regular santisation checks are pertinent to upkeep health and hygiene standards. Employees should be asked to follow social distancing norms by not gathering in big or small groups and following caution. However, if it is still possible for few businesses to undertake all their operations remotely, then that should be used to ensure minimum human contact," she said.

Being back in office has been exciting, to come back to something that can be called a 'normal' office day. "Yet, we have to follow safety measures that we never thought of before to reduce risk of contamination," she ended.