The pandemic forced and very radically transferred us to remote work. Despite the fact that the world is gradually coming back to life, many companies still have employees working from home while others have even abandoned their offices entirely.
At the same time, the transition to remote work must be implemented correctly so that the staff does not fall into stress and burnout. For many employees, such transitions are very difficult. This is especially considering that many employees who work from home actually report working longer hours.
A flexible schedule made life easier, but at the same time, more difficult. For example, working parents having the pleasure of half-day work days was replaced by the horror of reality, when the line between rest and work became blurred.
To fight stress and burnout, many large corporations invite psychologists to the staff or include consultations for employees in their insurance packages. For example, the head of a well-known coffee shop chain presented employees with an annual subscription to a meditation app as a New Year’s gift.
It is necessary to create a caring and supportive corporate culture where both online and offline interactions will be equally effective. Let me share with you what problems may occur when working remotely and how to solve them.
Problem # 1: The disappearance of work-leisure boundaries
With the dawn of remote work, an important ritual has disappeared—sending yourself to work.
For one, you can now get up later as it is not necessary to dress up for work. This approach has an impact on the self-perception of the employee. After all, the corporate style of clothing was invented for a reason. The dress code first appeared in Britain and showed a person’s belonging to a certain group, evoked the right feeling, and professional identity.
The more a person moves away from the image of himself at work, the more relaxed, and then apathetic they become. Encourage employees to wear corporate attire, including when working remotely, to maintain responsibility.
When you are at home and at work at the same time, it is also difficult to disconnect from the computer. You may find yourself answering emails until late in the evening. Additionally, meetings in the calendar have become very dense – sometimes there is not even 5 minutes of rest between endless video conferences. The person can neither rest nor concentrate. This leads to constant mental tension, guilt, and procrastination. Burnout is just around the corner.
Solution:
Designate a dedicated workspace at home. Don’t work from your bed, sofa, or dining room. Talk to loved ones, explain that there are certain times you will work and not have time to communicate with them. Develop rules for spending time together that even children can understand. Try to make a game of it: for example, try the “pomodoro” technique. Every 25 minutes, interrupt work, approach the child and do a minute of gymnastics together.
It is necessary to change clothes for work and “return” home in order to switch off from work tasks. Try going for a short walk before and after work to get in and out of the routine.
Too much information overloads the brain. Attention decreases, tasks are not completed, and then we get irritated. Implement the rules of communication with the etiquette of business communication. In it, write down through which channels and how to interact. It may include the following items:
- Answer work-related messages only from 9 am to 9 pm
- Call only for urgent and important problems
- Email is not for communication, but for files and fixing agreements
- Prohibit audio messages, with rare exceptions
- Wear headphones and use a microphone when at a video conference, so as not to interrupt each other’s sound
- By the way, according to the new etiquette, the camera at meetings should be turned on, unless the organizer says otherwise; and when you speak, look at the camera, not at the screen.
Employees are advised to turn off all notifications on their phones. People are already so immersed in this digital communication that they themselves will go into work chats several times, without notifications. But it should be their choice. They should decide when to get in touch with the world.
Problem # 2: Social isolation
The solitude of remote work greatly demotivates even introverted workers. Lack of communication has become one of the burnout factors. Many employees consider remote work to be a stressor that affects their mental health.
A return to the office can cheer up burnt-out employees, but what if this is not possible?
Solution:
The approach to social isolation should be systematic.
For example, HR may organize a variety of regular corporate events to prevent employee feelings of alienation. A manager may triple face-to-face meetings more often than they would happen in the office. During the period of remote work, the number of “touches” of each employee should double on average. Including informal interactions. Do not be afraid to ask the employee once again how you can help him. This is a manifestation of care and attention.
Pay more attention to feedback and employee satisfaction. Host informal corporate meetings online. Like a classic party, where everyone participates in competitions under the guidance of a host, only at computer screens. Or, for example, a book club where you can discuss not only classical literature or articles from professional publications. Arrange non-organizational competitions; for example, compete with all members of the team in the number of steps per day.
In a situation of constant change, the team needs more attention and care to prevent burnout. As in the 5 Love Languages, there are different elements of caring that can be applied to leadership:
- A transparent system of motivation
- Regular, on-time payments
- Social guarantees
- Letters of thanks
- Birthday greetings
Try also to implement individual incentives. For example, gifts for children of family workers, certificates to a gym or specialized stores for sports workers, and for freedom-loving workers permission to work on a different schedule.
Problem # 3: Integration of new team members
Transferring old employees to remote work is just half the trouble, but what to do with new ones? How to integrate them into the team remotely? For them, remote work is even more stressful. They do not know what colleagues look like, they do not understand how internal processes are arranged, whom they can turn to with their problems, etc. Remote adaptation of new employees is another challenge for the company.
Solution:
This task was best solved by companies that have worked out the processes of adaptation of personnel in ordinary life.
For example:
- Regulations and standards for supporting a newcomer from hiring until the end of the probationary period
- Onboarding material, which contains all the information about the company, describes the matrix of interactions between departments, outlines areas of responsibility for key positions and the personality of managers
- These documents can even be accompanied by educational films.
When adapting, the employee must have a mentor. The mentor will include the newcomer in the environment and will be able to convey the values of the company to him, setting his own example of attitude. The mentor does not have to be the most efficient worker, but definitely the most loyal.
In remote adaptation, it is also important to assess knowledge, skills, motivation, and involvement. Conduct it a month after the start of work and after the end of the trial period. It is important that each worker accompanying a newcomer is individually responsible for this. They must clearly know what information is covered, on what days they must convey it to the trainee, and be prepared for the fact that this knowledge of the beginner will be tested. It is their task – to train a new employee. Follow these rules and online adaptation will be fine.
Problem # 4: Loss of control
Such a negative factor was mentioned by some managers who were worried about the efficiency of work and the organization of the working hours of employees. Remote work frustrated the leaders, who felt they lost control.
HR teams of IT companies, faced with this problem for a long time, have come up with mechanisms to compensate for it. The personnel of IT companies are creative workers, and the whole system works, on the one hand, to keep them, on the other hand, to discipline and manage. In addition, many programmers worked remotely long before the pandemic, so the current solutions have already been invented, they just started to be used in other areas that were forced to go online.
Solution:
Organize work in an agile team manner so that employees can communicate and solve problems in groups with people from different departments, and not just with the head.
Second, start using task-setting tools such as Jira, Trello, and Bitrix24. The manager needs to have transparent control over the tasks of the employee. This will strengthen tasks such as planning, goal setting, and budget forecasting.
Finally, the manager needs to develop managerial skills and work with an organizational psychologist to prevent burnout, maintain motivation and mental clarity, and develop leadership competencies, despite the remote work format. After all, it is the manager who broadcasts the culture of attitude to the organization and the tasks of the staff.
Isolation is a challenging experience that can become traumatic and lead to inefficiency and burnout. Despite the obvious benefits and convenience of remote work, it is necessary to proactively avoid risk areas and do everything possible to facilitate and improve this process.
If you still feel stressed because of a work from home set up, having burnout or want to organize a perfect work routine, please feel free to write a request in the comment section. I will answer you in a personal message.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Kravtcova is a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology and is internationally certified with EuroPsy or European Certificate in Psychology (2021). She is a member of several respectful international business psychology societies including the International Society for Emotional Intelligence (2017), and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) – a division of the American Psychological Association or APA (2011).
Anna is a speaker at conferences all around the world (USA, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Russia, etc.), and did a TED talk on Emotional Intelligence. She has extensive managerial experience across various positions including as HR director (500 employees), COO (6 tech startups), CEO (17 hotels and restaurants), and managing partner of an international consulting company (36 consultants, 150+ clients around the world).
If you’ve watched “Billions” on Netflix, she is “Wendy” in real life.