Lockdown gave Super Plastronics CEO chance to get his fitness on track

For Avneet Singh Marwah, Director and CEO of Super Plastronics - a Kodak brand licensee, working from home is not a new concept.

He told ET Panache, "Earlier, I used to take one day a week to work from home as it allowed me to regain my focus and reduce interruptions. But most of my schedule required frequent visits to the office and factories; and hence the last few months of working from home 24x7 has been a bag of mixed experience."

In the beginning, it was a smooth transition. The entire team transitioned to online management software such as Google Meet and Gmail easily, and the company did not face any challenges in workflow continuance.


"We were struggling emotionally as business prospects looked slim and factories were shut, but we kept the morale going by keeping in touch with each other. Slowly, work from home started to present some challenges as sometimes an eight-hour workday would extend to 14-15 hours a day, especially while working with e-commerce platforms. I encouraged my team (and myself) to consciously try and restrict work to 8 hours daily when possible and spend time with family," he shared.

Marwah began with dedicating a workspace at home for all meetings. "My workspace included a screen, whiteboard, my laptop, my table chair and a la-z-boy. If there were any meetings, videoconferences that needed my attention or TV debates, I would dress up; otherwise, like most people, I would avoid dressing up and be in comfortable clothes. But more importantly, the focus was to keep the team spirit up as everyone went through difficult times at the beginning," he explained.


The biggest challenge Marwah faced was time. "Work that would require 3-4 hours in office, started to take longer due to various interruptions at home. Calling for quick meetings at work is also far more streamlined than coordinating everyone’s time while working from home. To streamline this, my team and I decided to take our daily calls at a scheduled time every morning. Keeping employee morale high in these times of distress was my most important responsibility and I ensured that I am connected to them through various means," he elaborated.

Marwah started sharing motivational ideas in the office group and encouraged others to do it, too. Each day, they all shared inputs and other creative ideas.

"I think what we’ve experienced in the last few weeks is the tipping point for our generation, and nothing would be the same going forward. This experience has allowed me to interact more closely with my teams. I wanted them to stay connected and be there for each other. We need 'physical' distancing, not 'emotional,'" he said.

Intermittent fasting meant, Marwah's mornings were dedicated to work, followed by an hour long lunch break to spend sometime with his son, which was the highlight of the lockdown.

"I haven't been working out for the past three-four years, so this lockdown gave me a chance to get back on track. Nowadays, I'm thoroughly enjoying working out. My friends and I have undertaken this challenge where each one of us has to do 25 burpees in under three minutes. I'm also training, which has started to show results. In fact when the relaxations were lifted, I ordered free weights and kettlebells. I hope my workout continues, as it gives me peace of mind," he ended.