Learning in lockdown

Before the lockdown many of us didn't really know what our loved ones actually did at work. Not so anymore.

For those colleagues working from home, many are learning not just what their partner does for a living, but how they go about it, and what their ‘work personalities’ are like too.

Looking back to life before lockdown, product and service executive, Samar Small, said her family simply saw her as ‘Mum.’ They didn't really give a second thought to what she did all day.

Samar is responsible for a range of things, including communicating with bulk buyers of stamps (like the supermarkets), mail redirection services, and overseeing Santa Mail, planning for which commences in May.

She usually works at Cardiff Mail Centre, with colleagues hot-desking around her. But since March, her workplace has been the kitchen table, with her husband and two teenagers milling around, picking up snippets of conversations involving big projects and huge sums of money.

‘They hear the figures being bandied around,’ she told the BBC. ‘It's not what they expected. I'm probably a bit brainier than my husband thought I was - dare I say it!’

Her husband, work area manager, Stephen Small goes into work at weekends, in a role that Samar used to do herself, so she has a good grasp of what he's doing. But it's the first time he's had much insight into what it is she does all day.

‘It's been a bit of an eye-opener,’ admitted Stephen. ‘There are the stacks of spreadsheets, all the financial accounting acronyms, and the hours and hours on the phone to everyone - from suppliers to senior managers.’

He's been ‘blown away,’ he said, by just how professional she is all round, her confidence in challenging other people's plans if she sees a flaw, and her eloquence and firmness in meetings.

Psychologist and executive coach, Sue Firth, said: ‘Most of us find that we get to know somebody perfectly well, and can love and live with them, and still not know what they do. It's quite revelatory to see what your other half does.

‘Discovering more will often reinforce mutual respect, including when parents with jobs find out just how much work it takes to keep the house and children in order.’