Wellbeing: It’s been emotional...

Managers should recognise that the pandemic and working from home have changed people’s behaviours and attitudes. Probably forever...

Ian MacRae

There’s a rule of thumb about behavioural change in psychology: after three weeks, temporary changes start to become permanent. After three months, they’re entrenched. Many workers are now 18 months into working remotely, and a host of other behavioural changes have come with that.

I’m a work psychologist, so I’ve seen a lot of different, unusual, impressive and sometimes surprising behaviours on video calls over the past 18 months, from sleepy, angry, friendly (or, on one occasion, fully nude) partners in Zoom backgrounds, to people in various stages of intoxication, or people “multitasking” on screen or off. Common Zoom interruptions tend to involve unexpected problems with kids, pets or pants. Isolation tends to lead people to develop their own “normal” behaviours that don’t always vibe well with other groups or office cultures. That means there’s conflict coming as we return to offices.

First up

When people work independently, they will cultivate their own style and approach. They might try different tools, techniques and technology. And they can share what they learn with their managers, teams and organisations. This can be a source of innovation and development, but it can also lead to disagreements.

As people return to the office, it will be even more important for managers to make sure that their teams have a shared sense of purpose, common values and clear performance metrics for individuals as well as teams. People need to be working towards the same objectives so everyone ends up at the same finish line, even if they get there in their own way.

Misunderstandings, miscommunications and conflicts can quickly escalate in digital spaces, too. The success of remote teams relies on adaptive, responsive and well-organised managers. It is the responsibility of managers to model respectful communication on digital platforms and take an active role in conflict resolution. Conflict is inevitable, but it is manageable.

The work has only just begun...

Overall, the results from the global remote working experiment have been impressive. The evidence strongly supports the idea that remote workers are more productive, and the majority of employees prefer hybrid work models. But it’s not over: the challenge for managers now is adapting to a world where we have more choice about how we work.

When managed properly, digital communication can offer structure and greater clarity about work outcomes. Conversations about performance can be more deliberate, better recorded and more focused on performance. Managers can be clear about what needs to be done, make sure their teams have the necessary resources and give workers the flexibility to accomplish objectives.

Managing remote workers effectively means treating people like adults. They need to know exactly what they are expected to accomplish and be given flexibility in precisely how they achieve it. When workers are expected to return to the office, it should be to accomplish an objective that can only be achieved in the office. Managers must be prepared to justify their decisions. Managers who refuse to let employees work remotely without good reason tend to be viewed as incompetent.

There are certain tasks that can be done more effectively in shared physical spaces. In-person sessions can help to build team cohesion; there are benefits to meeting new clients or colleagues in-person; there are advantages to in-person onboarding and training. And some people are just less productive when working from home.

Ian MacRae is a workplace psychologist and has precisely how they achieve it” written six books about workplace psychology. His upcoming book Dark Social: Understanding the dark side of personality, work and social media is published by Bloomsbury in November