A desk of one’s own—lawyer Deborah Rolfe
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It was the great disruption to the daily commute, office life and water-cooler debates.
The pandemic forced us all to adapt to working from home and, for many of us, that meant carving out a dedicated workspace where a dining table or linen cupboard once resided. Now we are theoretically back in the office, but that doesn’t mean our 9-5 work-day routine hasn’t blurred around the edges. Many of us are choosing to work at least part of the time from home for a variety of reasons.
We ask some busy Canberra professionals to share their WFH experience with us, starting with Deb Rolfe, Managing Partner at law firm Maliganis Edwards Johnson
What’s your WFH set-up?
I’m generally set up at the kitchen bench, not terribly ergonomic but I manage to get everything done and I’m in the heart of our home. I’m a bit of a control freak so this way I don’t miss out on anything that’s going on – at home or work.
Deb Rolfe keeps a minimalist kitchen bench/desk while working from home
Has it changed much over three years?
MEJ was really not set up for people to work from home, other than a few lawyers. We’ve always been a bit old school in that, whilst we have had, for many years, electronic files, we also like to have hard copy files. Given this, we had to quickly arrange hardware with our IT experts to ensure that all lawyers and support staff had the capacity to work from home without the need for accessing the hard copy files.
What split of time do you make between WFH and office life now we are free to choose?
It varies very much. I have always had the capacity to check my emails and do work externally as that is simply the nature of my job—being Managing Partner and responsible for risk management, requiring constant oversight. I check my emails and am available by phone from early morning to late at night. What WFH has enabled me to do is continue to work through periods where I have had to be absent from work. For example, in the last two years I have had to spend many weeks in Darwin to support my son who was involved in multiple court proceedings and, in the last few weeks, I have been working from my Mum’s bedside as she battles a terminal illness.
What’s the best bit about WFH? And the worst?
The best bit about WFH is absolutely the ability to continue to, and stay on top of, work when other issues mean that you cannot be in the office. In fact, while initially somewhat resistant to the idea, I have come to embrace it as a way that our staff can have a bit of balance in their lives. Once people were able to return to the office, we trialled a plan whereby everyone could work from home one day a week. It just made sense because life is so much easier having the ability to arrange for tradespeople to attend on that WFH day, or to get a head start on the weekend’s washing, to not have to get out of pyjamas or to be flexible with work start and finish times. And it has worked so well that MEJ has continued the arrangement. I would be reluctant to allow a staff member to work from home full-time as the nature of our work requires a lot of liaising with other staff and clients and I do think there is a risk of feeling isolated, lonely and to develop a sense of separation from the team. Our practice thrives on team work and I do think we have achieved a good balance.
What do you love about the office? And hate?
There is nothing I hate about the office. I was so pleased when everyone started coming back in, as a huge part of my enjoyment of work is the people that I work with every day, and just simply being around them – I missed the interaction enormously, I love the buzz of a busy office!
It would be hard not to love office life with views like Deb’s!
Where do you get more work done and why?
Whilst my substantive work is attended to and completed whether I’m in the office or WFH, I am more involved with the minutiae in the office, simply because I am available in person to answer questions and discuss matters with my team. At work, my door is always open except when I’m in a meeting and I encourage people to come and chat. If I am WFH, people tend to feel that they can’t or shouldn’t contact me, other than by email.
What’s on your desk at home and how is it different to your desk at work?
I’m a bit of a minimalist at work and try to keep my desk as clear as possible other than the matter I am working on in that moment. Otherwise, it’s generally my hard copy diary (I run both a hard copy and an electronic diary as I like to visualise my tasks for the day and tick them off as I get through them), my office phone and mobile and my coffee. At home, it will be my laptop, my mobile and my coffee.
Most essential work items no matter where you are?
This would have to be my mobile phone as I can stay on top of most things with its accessibility to my emails and our document management system (and my coffee!).
Can you make your own coffee as well as your barista?
Do you know, I am generally very happy with my Nescafe 43 at work and at home—occasionally I might get a coffee from downstairs at the café when I’m in the office. We also have a whiz bang coffee machine at work but I am a complete failure at remembering how to produce a good cup of coffee from it!
What helps you become more productive at home?
I think it is the ability to focus and the lack of interruptions although when I’m in the office I actively encourage the latter. They are very different environments and, overall, my preference is to work in the office but I do very much enjoy the flexibility of being able to work outside of the office when necessary.
