Looking back two years ago, not many companies offered their employees the possibility of working remotely. The reason? Organizations feared that allowing people to work from home would lead to a decrease in productivity. Well, let’s just say that their doubts were not far from the truth, but it really depends on the type of work we are referring to.
Research shows that people who are assigned boring and repetitive tasks are more likely to get distracted when working outside the office environment. Yet, when it comes to creativity, a more relaxed work climate produces better results.
Even with this data, up until 2020, only 5% of Americans were working from home for just a couple of days per week. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the number increased up to 30%. And it was a full-time work-from-home schedule.
At first, employees were energized by the chance of working from home. And this was regardless if their assignments were repetitive or creative. Furthermore, they were thankful for not being part of one of the 100k organizations forced to go out of business. So all this combined increased their productivity, making companies rethink their approach. This is why, today, many enterprises go with a hybrid work model - they allow their employees to split their working time between remote or in-office
But recent studies show that employees are not as happy with this situation as they were initially. They grew farther apart from some of their colleagues and now lack the desire to be part of meetings. The classic stand-ups turned into video calls which then turned into vague emails or instant messages.
Also, this period made people choose to collaborate with co-workers with whom they already share a strong connection prior to the pandemic. In other words, employees became reluctant to team up with new colleagues, causing an individualistic mindset. This equation caused a “stagnation loop” which affected the dynamics of the whole organization.
Unfortunately, developing egocentric traits is not desirable for any of the parties involved. It doesn’t only lead to poor team results, but it can also lead to depression.
Truth be told, even after more than a year, the pandemic crisis is still far from being over. Plus, this social distance moves employees into a more self-centered state by the day. So, from a leadership perspective, the situation doesn’t look too bright.
However, things don’t have to be so dramatic. As a visionary leader, you need to find a way to bring your team together regardless of the work environment. You have to make them shine and act as a team no matter what. But to do this, you need to understand that only checking their status on a recurring video conference is not enough. You need to figure out why each member is growing more distant and how you can nudge them on the right track. You need to learn what makes them unhappy. Because happiness brings engagement, and engagement brings people together. And that is the real key to successful business environments.
