From heels to headphones: my work-from-home rollercoaster with DC

Leadership Blogs – by Nidhi Sharma – Senior Manager - Communications and Digital Media, Development Consortium

Editorial Note: We’re delighted to share the second edition of Leadership Blogs - a space on our website where Development Consortium (DC) leaders open up about their journeys, inspirations, and lessons in leadership. In this edition, Nidhi Sharma takes us behind the scenes of her work-from-home rollercoaster in “From Heels to Headphones,” reflecting on the evolving meaning of connection, creativity, and balance in the new world of work.

Back in 2017, I joined one of Development Consortium’s program Love Matters as an Assistant Editor, and for the first time in years, it wasn’t from my living room. Until then, as the spouse of an army officer, my career had mostly meant “work-from-home” gigs. Flexible? Yes. But also a little lonely. So when my husband hung up his uniform, I decided to hang up my pajamas. I chose an office job, something I had never really done before.

And oh, was it fun. Suddenly, I had reasons to buy new dresses and shoes (and not just for weddings). Office corridors buzzed with colleagues, chai breaks, brainstorming, and laughter. It felt like I was living in a different universe, one where I was learning, growing, and enjoying every bit of this new world.

Enter 2020, the big plot twist

And then… COVID happened. One fine day, the office lights went off, and we were all shipped back home with our laptops. For me, it was déjà vu with a twist, because this time, the entire team was working remotely.

My first thought: How on earth will we survive this?

Turns out, the secret weapon was our team leads and heads. Within days, they created a structure so strong, it has kept us going for five years ( and counting) now. We had daily calls at 10 AM sharp and 5:30 PM without fail. Come what may, everyone logged in to Google Meet for our “Morning Call” and “Evening Call”.

Every morning, we shared our tasks in an email under each person’s name, creating a clear record of who was doing what. One team member is assigned as the “weekly leader,” a rotating role that ensured fairness and kept everyone engaged. The weekly leader’s job is to take notes during both the morning and evening calls, compile updates, and circulate them to the team so nothing slipped through the cracks.

All day long, Slack and WhatsApp buzzed with follow-ups, reminders, and nudges that kept the workflow moving. By the evening call, we circled back to the same list - reporting what was done, what was ongoing. This rhythm gave our days structure and accountability, making remote work far more organized and collaborative than my earlier experiences of working from home.

Routines, rituals, and really weird birthdays!

Slowly, this became muscle memory. Our days had a rhythm. But it wasn’t just about work.

We celebrated birthdays by pooling funds, buying gifts, and yes, singing “Happy Birthday” in the weirdest tunes possible (you had to be there). We made work-from-home fun too, sometimes posing for selfies with bright red lipstick, pouting for the camera, or simply laughing together on screen. Farewells and welcome speeches happened online with full drama, often rivaling office farewell parties.

We even pulled off Secret Santa exchanges, sometimes fully online, sometimes hybrid.

Sure, some days we were tired. Some days the calls felt long. But we showed up. Because that’s what teams do.

The hybrid life

Now it’s 2025. We have come full circle to a hybrid rhythm. Once every 15–20 days, we meet in the office. It’s not fixed, but it’s enough to remind us that behind the Slack messages are real people with chai preferences and book collections.

That mix of discipline, structure, fun, and flexibility is what has kept us going. We have grown, adapted, and built a work culture that’s ours.

The DC way

If you ask me what kept us steady through the chaos, I’d say it wasn’t just systems. It was spirit. The spirit of showing up for each other, of finding joy in the smallest rituals, and of never letting distance dull our connection.

From heels to headphones, from office corridors to Zoom/Google Meet screens, from uncertainty to resilience, that’s been my DC journey. And it’s one I wouldn’t trade for anything.