There are a number of mental health risk factors which can be encountered in the workplace. The majority of threats arise from interactions between the nature of the work, the organisational and managerial environment, employee skills and competencies, and the support provided to help them do their jobs. For example, a person may have the competence to fulfil duties, but they may lack the means to do so, or unsupportive managerial or organisational behaviours may exist.
Globally, an estimated 264 million people suffer from depression, one of the leading causes of disability, with many of these people also suffering from symptoms of anxiety.
We have brought specific insights into managing mental wellness in workplaces through two articles in this special edition.
You will also find interesting manifestation of AI in art & craft, Digital marketing as the prominent tool for businesses and a lifestyle article on business wear.
Wishing Merry Christmas –bringing new rays of light into everyone’s life and career!!
Hoping that you will like the content and choice of topics in this issue.
Please write your feedback and enquiry to contact@bizemag.com
Thank You Dr. Vaneeta Aggarwal www.Lstrategyq.com www.bizemag.com
While it might be cool to be weird or being fashionable to be one among the elite society, the really weird people feel all of the pangs and pains of not being one with the crowd. For them, it serves only to add to life’s burden, the “weirdness” exerting its price to the full, from social stigma to exploitation and abuse. And that is for the people who are still able to do daily functions and activities. So let’s not even talk about the ones who are not. “A life wasted” is the correct phrase for it. People with mental illnesses are often denied to people with fundamental citizenship rights. We all are too familiar with the “ he can’t take care of himself and his property ” and “ he is mad, his words have no validity ” legal argument trope.
Yes, suppose anyone can come up with a medical declaration that a person is a lunatic. In that case, the latter is almost no more a citizen. The lack of scrutiny and accountability is dangerous in corruption-filled corridors of power. It often results in not observing judicial processes, throwing him to the asylum being a simple solution. But before talking about the paradoxes of lunacy laws, let’s first look at existing legal frameworks that govern lunacy and mental health issues.
As per the 2017 Mental Health Care Act,(IN) a mental illness can be seen as a “substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behaviour, capacity to recognize reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.” The law includes mental health disorders and conditions resulting from alcohol and drug abuse within the scope of the mental issues that the broad term “mental illnesses” extends to.
According to a NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India) study, one of India’s leading institutes on mental health, mental illness has
taken tremendous proportions in India, enough to be a significant social problem. Some findings of the study include:
• 13.% of the populace suffers from one form of mental illness
• 10.6% of people with a mental health condition require immediate treatment.
• A significant 1.9% of the entire populace suffers from severe mental issues like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia amongst others.
Another 2018 study conducted by the philanthropic Live Love Laugh Foundation found that a whopping 87% of respondents were aware of mental illnesses. And 71% were aware of the stigma associated with suffering from a mental illness.
Considering the tremendous
social toll of mental illness, it is time that political, social, legal and health institutions limit its impact. And one of the most meaningful steps they can take in this regard is by ensuring legal provisions for protecting patients. However, laws made but not implemented and observed will do us little good. Accordingly, we need to build up the social will and resolve to overcome the challenge.
Rights Provisions for PMIs in the MHCA 2017
In Indian mental health care laws, the 2017 MHCA (Mental Health Care Act) is a landmark step. For People with Mental Illnesses (PMI), it stands for the rights they always needed but legal provisions they lacked. It includes:
1. You have the right to provide an advance directive
With the provisions of the mentioned Act, PIMs now specify the kind of treatment he prefers when his illness becomes severe. Additionally, he can also select a nominee who can Act on his behalf in the unfortunate circumstance of being unable to decide for himself. Thus, the Act further clarifies the end goal of all action
taken under such circumstancesthe best interests of the patient himself.
2. You must be able to access healthcare services
The government is legally bound to provide healthcare services to all PMIs according to the provisions of the legislation. Additionally, the recent legislation also states that such services need to be aligned and acceptable by both the PMI and their family, amongst
other requirements. Some of the other necessary criteria set by the legislators include:
• The service should be affordable
• The quality of the healthcare service is essential as well
• Geographical specifics are not relevant in the providing such healthcare services
• If the government fails to provide the service on a district-wide basis, then the as -
sociated costs of visits to treatment centres must be borne out by the government itself
There is no room for discrimination in providing such facilities based on gender, class, sexual orientation, caste or religion
3. You have the right to get mental health care for free
In a somewhat landmark provision, the 2017 law provides free mental health care to people who can’t afford it, like destitute and homeless people or people below the poverty line. Such care can be provided by designated healthcare centres other than both government-funded and government-run facilities. PMIs also have the right to get all medicines listed in the Essential Drug list for free. However, all government-run or funded health care centres must, as a law, provide such services.
4. You have the right to lead a life in a community setting
As per the enacted 2017 MHCA legislation, the government must ensure that PIMs can access treatment within a community setting, living with his family. PIMs can longer be confined to isolation from the rest of socie -
ty. And in the rare case that this is not feasible or if the family has abandoned the patient, it is up to the government to provide adequate aid. Further, children aged under three cannot be separated from their mothers unless the latter possesses a real threat to life and security to her child.
5. You have the right not to be treated in cruel, inhuman and degrading ways
The right to live a life with dignity has been formalized by Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The MHCA Act has taken the bold step to extend such rights to the mentally ill as well. It protects PIMs against cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment at any mental health facility. Furthermore, it extends them the right to lead their lives safely and hygienically, besides providing them with privacy rights.
6. You cannot be treated by prohibited methods
According to the current legal provisions, ECT or electroconvulsive therapy or shock therapy is prohibited for children in popular discourse. However, suppose therapists do resort to the treatment form, even for adults. In that
case, the health professionals are under a legal obligation to take due medical precautions like administering anesthesia and using muscle relaxants.
7. You have the right to be treated equally and without discrimination
PIMs now have the right to be treated at par with other patients with physical illnesses during the treatment period. It includes access to emergency services like ambulances and other necessities. The law also safeguards PIMs against discrimination on any basis, including gender, sexual orientation, culture, religion, caste, disability class and political and social beliefs.
8. You have the right to informa -
tion
According to the enacted law, every person, including PIMs, can make decisions. Accordingly, it is only natural that these decisions be informed, enlightened ones and the MHCA seeks to do just that. It translates to every PIM being aware of the legal provisions behind his admission, besides all sides of his treatment, including but not restricted to side effects.
Healthcare specialists must provide the patient and his nominee with these details, necessarily in a language they can understand and grasp.
9. You have the right to keep disease and treatment details confidential
According to the new legal pro -
vision, PIMs are assured of confidentiality concerning their illness and treatment details. All patient-specific information must be confidential even when the data is stored in an electronic or digital format. The provision has some caveats like in the larger inter of public security and safety, prevention of harm and other cases. The nominated representative of the patient can demand access to such information to ensure proper patient treatment.
10. You have the right to seek legal aid and pursue complaints
Free legal aid is something already enshrined by the Indian Constitution under Article 39A.
The MHCA 2017 has taken the bold step forward and extended the provision to PIMs as well. The relevant authority is under a legal obligation to inform and provide PIMs with this right. Additionally, PIMs can now complain and get redressal about deficiencies in mental health facilities and services provided to them.
A few other critical rights are provided to PIMs by the mentioned legislation, including accessing medical records and the necessary freedom to contact and communicate with contacts. They
may also refuse to meet or speak with a person they don’t want to. The Act is quite comprehensive and lays down guidelines for forming a Central Mental Health Authority along with State Mental Health Authorities to implement the legal provisions at the ground level.
But stay hooked to the pages of this magazine as there is another following part that covers the legal rights of PIMs as envisaged in other associated legislation. The article will look closer at the provision for legal remedies to complaints by PIMs and a relevant case study.
Learning to live with ambiguity is learning to live with how lifereallyis;fullofcomplexities and strange surprises.
~ James Hollis
People generally ask me - “What skills or habits should I acquire to be successful ?” Can there be a sure shot answer to this that fits one and all? Yes, without a blink, it would be - “Befriend Ambiguity.”
Believe me – That’s the MANTRA. If one does not know how to handle an unknown, unprepared, not thought of situation, which is ambiguity, one would be thrown completely off the track, will be in a helpless situation often. All the planning, organisation skills, rehearsals just go down the drain and like how. The million dollar question here is what is AMBIGUITY?
Ambiguity is a type of meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations plausible. When we encounter an ambiguous situation, we might be unsure of how to proceed be -
cause the goal is vague and in all likelihood, we don’t have access to all of the information we need. Worst, it might be when we come to a conclusion about a situation, but before we can act on it, the situation has already changed. Ambiguity, in other words, is uncertainty.”
Ambiguity can be pure kryptonite for people like me with perfectionist tendencies – who prefer to be organised, planned and to know what to expect at all times Pandemic, if nothing else, has taught all of us to deal with ambiguity, uncertainty and unpredictability. In future too, we may have to face unknowns, perhaps, throughout our lives. It certainly would not help us to freeze when we encounter uncertainty.
So what’s the way to get more confident with ambiguity? How can one learn to embrace uncertainty, instead of panicking or gong wrong at such times? Let us try to unfold the mystery….. One can adapt the following strategies to build up ambiguity muscle and confidence both!
1. Learn
Strategic
Thinking - Strategic thinking is an intentional, rational thought
process that focuses on the analysis of critical variables that will influence the longterm success of any project. It can help us ignore most of the clutter. It includes deliberate anticipation of threats and vulnerabilities to guard against failures. It provides a clear set of goals, plans, and new ideas required to thrive in a competitive, changing environment.
2.
Develop An 80-20 Attitude - The Pareto Principle suggests that in any situation, 20% of causes drive 80% of the outcomes. If we understand & become comfortable with this principle, our ability to deal with ambiguity will increase manifold. This should be the thumb rule to encounter ambiguity.
3. Visualisation - Translate all
available information into a visual. Thoughtfully sketching the spinning thoughts in head can be really empowering and illuminating. It’s like looking at a bar graph versus staring at a bunch of numbers. Visualisation could mean developing a rough sketch of what’s known versus the unknown like an iceberg. It could even mean using a Ishikawa/Fishbone diagram to analyze how each move is connected to or dependent on another.
4. Interpersonal - Think of data we can gather from our stakeholders to get an insight into what we could plan next. Enhancing our interpersonal skills, so that we can have more patience with others and they can have more patience with us can bring miracles. Aim should be to have a consensus style where others can provide input. The more perspectives, the more likely the decision will be accurate and useful.
5. Mindset - One must strive for a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset enabling us to see ambiguity as an opportunity for learning. See the positive in ‘not knowing everything’!
Use the experience and creativity to look for alternative uses for the processes, products or systems we already have. It’ll reduce effort, increase comfort with change and invent new pathways ahead!
6. Learn the Art of Stepping Back. - Just stepping back and asking ourself what best possible solution can be prevalent, will help. It can help us to set the path for needed clarity.
7. Plan For The Future - One must have a general outline for future. It can help us to develop more defined goals that help progress even if one is facing ambiguous situations. Make a list of the steps needed
to complete to get where one wants to land as an outcome.
8. Remain Confident and Calm
- Staying calm is a good way to manage an ambiguous situation. Take a moment to consider what we should be doing and what outcomes our actions can achieve. Approach each task with confidence knowing that we have the required skills, experience and education. We must use qualifications to complete duties to the best of our ability, despite being ambiguous. Ask for feedback about the quality of work once done. Following steps will tremendously help -
• To be more present in the moment, practice mindfulness.
• Do not focus on confusion and
frustrations.
• One can be more patient with the confusion and frustrations that often occur when dealing with ambiguity by managing time and stress effectively.
• Knowledge of our own stress triggers can help cope with levels of uncertainty; build resilience.
• Build in means to make changes to plans as necessary.
• Be realistic in expectations and deadlines.
9. Accept Change - Changes in plans, workflow, organisation structure can often create ambiguity. Acceptance of these changes and further questions will provide more clarity. It’ll help one to navigate these uncertain situations. Consider
change to learn more skills and competency.
10. Make Decisions Without Having All Of The FactsMany a times, we need to make decisions without having complete information. In such scenarios, try to gather as much information as we can to make a guided decision. Making notes to explain our reasoning, monitoring the outcome of our decision ensures we have more facts and details if we encounter a similar situation in future.
11. Improve Problem-Solving Skills - To improve problem-solving skills, try to define the situation and ideal outcomes as best as one can. If one needs to choose from multiple options, one must weigh the pros and cons of each option. Documenting the process helps in revisiting choices later. Problem-solving skills can help to better use the limited tools and information one must evaluate the situation and clarify uncertainties.
12. Plan Possible Alternatives - Creating different/alternative plans can help find more success in our endeav -
ours. If one is unsure of how one feels about chosen or potential career path, thinking about other types of jobs helps. Researching these opportunities can help one create a more defined long-term plan should one design to make the switch.
13. Communicate Often - To prevent ambiguity, continuously communicate. Asking questions and explaining your plans and progress encourages others which can help one work toward the same goals and objectives. Be as specific as possible to ensure the message is clear and easy to understand while communicating.
• Strengthen communications skills so one can be even more clear in expressing the objectives without others inadvert -
ently interpreting something else.
• Explain ambiguity and its causes to others, so they can be more patient with themselves and others.
14.
Creative Approach - Ambiguity should be seen as means to more creativity and innovation as it challenges the
mind to see things from a different perspective. Get self out of comfort zone, putting self in new situations, doing something new and different will not only give one the confidence but also the experience to cope with uncertain situations.
Key Take Away(s) -
Ambiguity is a part of life as the
circumstances constantly keeps changing around us which leads to lack of clarity on many dimensions. Ambiguity not only overwhelm us but also prevents us from managing uncertainty. Good news is that as we learn the art of managing ambiguity, we are equipped to handle increasingly more ambiguous situations. And while yes, ambiguity at times add on to the stress, it also encourages innovation and agility and ensures we’re evolving.
As per Psychology - someone who can deal with ambiguity “can effectively cope with change, shift gears comfortably, decide and act without having the total picture, and handle risk and uncertainty.” Those with a strong ability to deal with ambiguity are often described as adaptable, flexible, and comfortable with uncertainty.
When in an ambiguous situation in future, remember that ambiguity is POSITIVE too!
Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next –‘Delicious Ambiguity’ ~
Gilda Radner
AUTHOR:
Dr Neeta Pant is
a Senior HR Professional, Clinical Psychologist, Executive Life Coach, Soft Skills Trainer, Graphologist, NLP Practitioner and Hypnotherapist (India)
There are plenty of ayes as well as nays when it comes to artificial intelligence in design. Experts have all sorts of opinions about using ai in design, in art and handicrafts. However, we must remember that as things stand today, only humans can create an authentic design. Human agency is necessary for the design to create context and feed the aesthetic needs of the populace. But that hasn’t deterred researchers from bravely charting new frontiers in making AI achieve the design abilities of humans.
According to futurists and industry thought leaders, AI will indeed achieve the ability to think critically. As a result, they can play critical and productive roles in complex tasks and positions. Furthermore, they opine that AI can play a significant role in helping humans design better VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality) experiences. They can also facilitate the evolution of its kindthrough Machine Learning. AI holds the promise of making designs for both art and craft a far more manageable task and thereby get more and better designs.
Artificial Cognitive Abilities
With AI, machines can final-
ly “think” in a manner that resembles the process of human thought. To cite an example, modern AIs can deal with visual and auditory information from their surroundings. Further, AIs can store all of this information in their memory and retrieve the same for the required length of time. In other words, modern AIs can “see,” “hear,” and ultimately analyze all such inputs. So don’t be at all startled to hear that current AIs can:
• Distinguish between different vital data like shapes, colours, codes, objects, texts. For example, Ais can process high-speed movements on western highways (Tesla cars, for example) with great accuracy and without any form of stress.
• Classify the various types of input information or data and use particular parts of them when needed.
• Store all sorts of information and facts for extended periods which exceed present human capacities and capabilities.
These “cognitive” capabilities of modern Ais can facilitate an emerging role of the technology in design with the help of sensors and IoT (Internet of Things) de-
vices. It gives AI-based programs to come up with or at least modify art and handicrafts design. Further, suppose the program is fed with popularity information. In that case, it can decently change existing designs and provide various variations without human intervention. Thus, AI helps to ensure that handicrafts, art artists, and craftsmen spend less time “thinking” and more time doing. It, in turn, boosts productivity by leaps and bounds.
Understanding the Context
With the help of AI, machines are now able to understand the context by using suitable algorithms which are not related but are intelligent as well. Furthermore, AIs have the remarkable ability to hold a vast memory. It makes it possible for them to use an
enormous corpus of data to base their actions. Such actions have become more effective as they are sensitive to the task’s unique needs and have context.
There are now several AI-powered apps that can develop graphic designs based on specific needs as per the information that the AI receives. Such programs now can categorize design needs. They can accordingly output a wide variety of results that comes with colours, background, textures and other details that suit the need of user artist and artisans.
Additionally, AIs can now personalize its creations. For artists and artisans means that now they can cater to the unique design preferences of clients and come up with additional designs that best appeal to their tastes.
Creating Designs That Are Far More Modular
Brands can now leverage handicraft artists’ craftsmanship to greater extents, thanks to the robust design system that AI makes possible. For example, they can provide specially handcrafted souvenirs and other brand accessories that align with its design scheme and uniqueness. AI achieves such results from the wide variety of design elements, patterns and modules that it uses while coming up with designs. Consistency in design is one of the significant characteristics in marketing these days, be it a humble startup or a large corporate enterprise. With the help of AI, artists
and artisans are finally able to add a metrics layer to their creations. As a result, they cater to market needs to far greater extents. The best thing about AI is that the more data you feed into the system, the better the program will provide optimized results.
Make It Possible to Analyse Huge Amounts of Data
Through online interaction, a massive amount of data regarding consumer preferences are generated daily. Further manufacturers themselves account for a large portion of the same. Such data availability led to fields like business intelligence flourishing with the petabytes of data available for analysis. That, in turn, has made data analysis far more complex, refined and valuable than ever before. Such data that AIs can act on only makes the lives of designers and handicrafts manufacturers easy.
Identifying Structures
The ability of AI programs to recognize object structures facilitates the task for machines to distinguish between essential features of human appearance. It includes things like thumb impressions and characteristics of human faces. Such a technolog-
ical development has made Ais capable of identifying, putting to memory, and detecting structures afterward.
The identification of object structure is something that modern Ais are capable of doing and effective in doing so. They accomplish this ability by registering all images in a specific category. This ability to classify images has made them far more able designers than thought possible before. They can come up with attractive designs in a relative jiffy. However, experts concede that specific components of such tech need to be refined and improved. As of now, many AI image identification tasks are not full-proof, i.e. the program is still prone to make mistakes. Such efficacy is, however, enough to provide to facilitate the work of art-
ists and artisans.
Create Visual Cues and Styles in Design
Ai-powered visual style generative tech can apply filters to images and videos intelligently. It is a result of the capability of modern Ais to recognize images. For example, Ais can now differentiate between objects like human bodies and pears and accordingly recommend and implement different filters. Ai tech, therefore, can conjure up generative and dynamic visual cues and styles. AIs can transform half-finished sketches into refined artistic images. Further, the more you inter-
act with machine learning programs, the better the AI program makes refinements to reach your intended result.
The final word of AI in design is still out for the jury - the artists and craftsmen to decide. But it will be safe to say that they sure promise to be effective and intelligent assistants. It makes it possible for even aesthetically inclined but untrained designers to excel at their craft or design of choice. Ultimately, AI makes it easier for specialized professionals to better cater to their users without hassle. Furthermore, it makes designing a more strategic activity through its excellence at automating rep-
etition. It all adds up to far enhanced and personalized design content. Therefore, it only makes sense for artists and artisans of all trades to tap into this considerable design potential of AI. Thus, the design industry stands to benefit in its entirety.
Avaried lot of industries and find digital media skills to be extremely helpful. Such popularity of a relatively new development is due to how digital media merges the two worlds of creativity and tech. Therefore, it is little wonder that professionals find it easier to get jobs if they are duly trained in digital media.
Digital media has assumed a proportion in our times that is almost all-encompassing. From websites, social media, video games and even advertisements, many as -
What Is Digital Media?
By using the term “digital media,” people refer to content that has been encrypted or consumed through machine-readable platforms. The tech that powers such encryption or consumption is something people use the term for also. To break up the phrase, people can refer to numerical, usually binary digits as digital. On the other hand, the word “media” refers to a specific information transmission method. Finally, people use the whole term to refer
pects of our online world involve one or another form of digital media. Suppose a business can safely chart through digital media waters. In that case, they can make better, more informed strategic decisions regarding marketing and, even sometimes, core business activities.
to sharing information through digital screens or devices. Thus, all media, irrespective of format created, distributed, viewed, or stored on an electronic device, can be digital media.
Now that we have digital media covered let’s acquaint you with an even newer term- the new nor -
mal. Almost anyone connected with business and other organizational aspects like HR has heard of the word; it is still helpful to know precisely what it is.
What then is the New Normal?
The world before COVID-19 and after it are hardly the same. Things have changed, and as people resume their everyday routines after the lockdown, the wholly changed set of practices and habits are what is together referred to as the “new normal.”
The new normal has affected many fundamental aspects of society and our way of life:
• How We Interact With One Another
• The Even Bigger Rise in Telehealth
• How We Evaluate Personal Hygiene
However, a section of people does indeed feel as if everything will return to the pre-pandemic way of life after some time. Things will only get better, but COVID-19 has brought about changes too fundamental to revert to an earlier state for the foreseeable future.
Consumers Delight, Providers Steep Path Ahead
When we talk about media, the conversation is incomplete without the mention of the entertainment industry. The various competitors trying to tap the digital entertainment content market are significant in number. And that’s good because it gives consumers, particularly US consumers, to pick from various free and paid solutions. According to a particular survey, most respondents enjoy paid video streaming and are frequent or occasional players of video games. Additionally, a good number of them also pay for streaming music. The interesting thing to note here is that they also pay for TV-based entertainment packages and subscriptions. The plethora of options available
to entertainment lovers makes observing and noting their favourite activity valuable and gives us crucial insights. The survey we were discussing listed 16 entertainment activities. The most popular entertainment is still watching TV and movies from the comfort of the respondent’s home. The 57% majority of respondents list the two in their top 3 favourite entertainment activities. For the demographic Gen X, Millennials and Boomers, it occupied the top slot in their preferences. However, things were a bit for Generation Zers’. For this particular demographic, playing games was the favourite entertainment activity (26%), music (14%), net surfing (12%) and enjoying engagement
with social media (11%). It is interesting to note how a mere 10% of Zers professed that watching TV and movies at home was their favourite entertainment activity. Suppose the entertainment preferences don’t change over time. In that case, that could mean a tremendous upheaval in the entire entertainment industry, especially in video entertainment. The number of digital media options is already significant. The money you need to pay up for them is already totalling a considerable number. Naturally, more and more consumers are turning to ad-supported digital media entertainment options to get the best of both worlds. Lack of high-quality content and unsatisfactory user
experience is also causing many consumers to switch their platform of choice. Due to the pandemic, many media production firms found it hard to produce entertainment content.
Everybody Loves Social But Many Don’t Trust It Anymore
Social media has evolved into something far more functional than merely being a platform to connect and share stuff. It has become one of the commonest gateways to consume media-related content, including games, video and the tricky subject of news on social media. Social media commands such a power in our times that international governments are trying their bit to “tame the beast,” if we may say that. However, awareness about the potential value of their data has made social media users question the intentions of the platforms. To salvage the situation, social media platform firms must take trust-building steps, show responsibility, and have some regulation mechanism in place.
Almost every one of all ages uses social media, but their online social activities vary significantly as per age. Millennials and Zers use
social media to catch up on music than anything else. For the Generation X demographic, the most popular online activity is consuming news. A significant 34% of US adults use social media news as a source of information.
Use Advertisement to Personally Engage with Con-
sumers
Social media and entertainment both depend to a great extent on advertising dollars that support these popular mediums. They spend their money obviously to get new consumers by catching their attention, eventually boosting their ROI or Return on Investment. After the emergence of COVID-19, the revenue generated from advertising went down in 2020. In contrast, digital advertisement spending surged, and its
profits were similarly at an alltime high. Again, digital advertising grew phenomenally on almost all the popular social media platforms. Hand in hand, ad-supported streaming services also continued to become even more popular with consumers, mainly after COVID-19 emerged.
Advertising will need to get its act together as it continues its forays into digital advertising regarding consumers’ personalization and privacy preferences. These are not at all rigid, and different media and consumer segments show different choices. For example, a significant number of consumers are only too happy with ads provided the content is free. At the same time, the other side is averse to ads in any of their forms. So, knowing the exact, specific sentiments of consumer segments is
essential. It is evident that, like all other spheres of life, we will feel the new normal’s effects in digital media. One exciting thing that we must add to the pointers we mentioned above is how transmedia or mixed-media is gaining popularity. Both artists and writers and their fans and followers are discovering and loving its possibilities. As artists went back to the studios with the only social interaction online, experimentation was inevitable.
AUTHOR
Dr. VANEETA AGGARWAL CEO, Founder
Advisors
The work-from-home culture has indeed brought about a shifting paradigm in office wear. Pre covid era had some really strict office wear decorum that almost lapsed during the covid phase work from home.
However, with the decline in the aggressiveness of the pandemic, some offices have resumed their previous work structure and also resorted to a hybrid model connecting both works from home and work from office culture. So, now is the ultimate time that one has to re-think about unpacking the office wear collection from the wardrobe that was almost lost
for the past one and half years. From managing Monday blues to jazzing up your Friday thrills, office wear can be interesting and not necessarily carry the mundane boring label on them. Let us have a glance at some popular and trending ideas that can help you nail the office fashion game.
Trending Office Wear Ideas
• The Classic Corporate
Look
If you love old school and your office members appreciate you being in a completely classic look, then you have to go the typical
office way. This look is mostly applicable to corporate offices. It includes shirts or straight tops (not too long) paired with straight trousers or very classic denim. The pro tip for this look is not to overdo things and keep it as minimum and subtle as possible. You can team up this look with some detailed accessories.
During the work from home culture, this look has almost said goodbye to all office workers. While working from home, nobody is resorting to this look. During seminars or office meetings one can wear such clothes even when at home, but that instance is quite rare
• The Business Look
The business look is a hybrid look between the too formal and too informal. You can create this look by pairing up blazers over t-shirts (mandatorily nude or subtle in color, ideally non-printed) and the bottom wear could be a bit less formal. You can try out jeans rather than formal straight trousers. The business look should include a blazer or an overcoat and you can play around with the accessories. Skirts and tops or formal tunics are also a great option
for creating the business look.
In the work-from-home culture, this dressing style has been the trendiest. Because of the very fact that it blends the office wear decorum with the comfort and informal environment of the home. When working from home, usually accessories are not needed, only a complementary watch can be enough.
• The Glam Look
The glam look is great for Fridays when you plan to hang out with your friends after the office. It is also a perfectly suitable dress code for small office gatherings or on special days at the office where you need some more sparkle and shine than the other days. To create such a type of look, you can go with almost any kind of decent yet gorgeous outfit. However, the colors should not be too bold. Moreover, try to keep the makeup down to the earth. A nude shimmer makeup look will be the best. There are a few trademarks of this type of look - statement jewelry, a bit more makeup than what you do for the regular days.
What Should be the Style Quotient When Working From Home?
While working from home, the pro tip is to pay special emphasis on the upper wear rather than the lower wear. By this time, we all know, that not our entire body is visible across the screen through the front camera. So, it is enough, if we pay more attention to the part visible. Even when working
from home, here are a few things to keep in mind regarding your outfit
• Though you are working from home, do not forget that you are in a virtual office environment and need to maintain at least the minimum dress decorum. Many people commit the mistake of wearing too casual clothes while attending office from home. This can create a
negative impact should other people ask you to turn the camera on at any time.
• There is no need for loud makeup while working from home. However keep in mind that, that your face should be clean, your hair neatly brushed, and preferably tied. Your face should not reflect boredom or tiredness. It is winter now, the pro tip is to always apply a bare minimum moisturizer on your facial skin.
• When attending office webinars or virtual meetings, try to dress up properly. There is no need to wear formal blazers all the time, but you should also not be in your nightgown when attending meetings
To sum it all up, your style reflects who you are and how you dress up is a big part of your style. So, be it at home or at your office desk, workplace style should always be sophisticated and smart.
