There is a Vinita in the Office

My office moved and merged with my husband’s office. I struggled quite a bit. I had become used to working from home – the atmosphere, the ambience, it just suited me better. I could take breaks between jobs; I wandered out and sit in the garden for some time when I wanted to think. I struggled with sitting in the office. The rows of desks weighed on me, making it more and more difficult for me to think creatively. Often, I felt like a cage lion prowling around the office. To this day, I sometimes still feel that way. 

It was a much more effective way of ensuring the business worked well, and right now, that was the focus – Kreeda. But I simply could not go in every single day or do a nine to five job. So, I came up with this concept of doing a little bit of both. I would go in in the morning and work from home in the afternoon and maybe take a day or two off to work from home. It was a good amalgam of things for me. It gave me space and time to do my creative work, but also to get my work done in the office.

I quickly understood something about myself. Boredom set in easily for me, and unless I did something new all the time, I would get bored and careless. I had to keep myself engaged all the time, doing new things, pursuing new ideas and new plans. Kreeda needed that innovation. Kreeda needed someone to think differently and do things differently, and I tried my best to bring that balance to work and what followed was a number of exciting initiatives in Kreeda.

I think my biggest learning in the office is how people worked together or how they did not. At home, we were a 3-member team working in one room – everything was talked about. Here, we were separated by cubicles and desks and often interspersed with other members of different teams. We now had to communicate with accounts and purchase and administration and even HR! Sounds easy enough, but that’s when things started to go wrong.

As a communications professional, I realize that a lot of people think communications is about marketing or advertising and fancy words. Actually, it’s about everyday conversations with people. It’s about talking to each other. One of things I struggled with in the office was how some things never got completed because they were left hanging at some point. Someone would do something, pass it on and forget about it. It bothered me and I would constantly harp on following up and asking people to close the loop. My team members would roll their eyes every time I said this, until one young girl actually presented me with a picture of a snake swallowing its own tail and the words close the loop. I put this up in my office and it’s there to this very day and it reminds me every time how important it is that we communicate and follow up.   But with all the challenges I faced with getting into an office, there was no doubt about it – Kreeda had graduated now from being the dream of a young woman and a home business to become an established brand that people loved and cherished. My little baby was growing up!