MUMBAI: Indian software companies are phoning in expertise from unlikely sources to help their workforce adjust to the new normal of working from home.
For those struggling with life in
isolation, lessons from a National Aerospace and Space Administration astronaut who was cooped up in a space station for six months could be highly valuable. That is why
Tata Consultancy Services conducted a video seminar for its nearly 4.5 lakh staffers with the American astronaut
Ronald Garan, who shared his tips and tricks to survive in isolation. The spaceman who charges up to 50,000 per session cautioned employees against plumbing the depths of anxiety spawned by the pandemic. “Fear lowers the immune system,” he warned, while extolling the virtues of “expeditionary behaviour” — a set of responses that keep a team moving ahead together in the wild, or in this case, the lockdown.
“We have this expression in space called ‘expeditionary behaviour’, and it’s all about being a functioning team member in very stressful, hostile environments. Make no mistake, we are all living in a hostile environment, that’s why we are all stuck in our houses,” said Garan.
Employees who tuned into the session said the key takeaway from the astronaut was being observant of team members and colleagues. A majority of India’s 4.3 million technology workers are building solutions and servicing customers remotely. The technology industry, like the rest of India, has a higher proportion of younger workforce.