Work from home brings with it new sets of problems with obvious challenges to getting work done from friends, spouses, roommates, children. Others do not have anyone at home and now no commuting and restriction on going out and cooped up alone in the house.
It is natural to expect that working from home would lead to more work getting done as there is no commuting and the associated stress involved but the experience has been otherwise. Less working is getting done and the employees are emotionally, mentally, and physically drained.
In addition to the numerous challenges they face in getting work done at home, there are several intangible challenges that we face that greatly reduce our capacity to do work.
Emotional and cognitive fatigue
The epidemic has created an emotional and cognitive load on our limited capacity and it directly affects our work. Most of the people are worried about their own wellbeing, the health of their families, feeling guilty about falling short in work, or dealing with the direct impact of the epidemic. The gradual opening up after the lockdown adds to the emotional load as now they have to worry about safety if they have to go out. These emotions are suppressed and it depletes our limited will power and wears us down.
Compassion fatigue
In providing empathy to others and making an effort to understand their personal circumstances to better support them, we further deplete and drain our limited energy and mental resources. this leaves you drained by the end of the day.
Physical fatigue
Our emotional state directly impacts our physical well being. Many of the physical symptoms reflect a social, emotional problem. The upheaval many people have felt because of the lockdown has led to increased depression and anxiety. This often leads to feeling physically tired, in addition to causing reduced focus, memory, and sleep making us even more tired and less productive.
Managers should adjust their expectations in the current situation. they should recalibrate their expectations.
- Re-prioritize projects and deadlines - identify what can be held back and what deadlines can be extended.
- Re-assess the level of detail and quality for the projects and metrics for success. What is realistically achievable?
- Re-balance work among team members, taking time to understand their personal constraints and individual capacity.
What should not be done
- Do not expect the same level of responsiveness as before.
- Assume others handle this type of situation the same as you or the same how they handled it in the past.
- Assume others will tell you when they feel overwhelmed, you will have to give them explicit permission to do so and show them that its Ok to ask for support.
This is not to suggest that managers can shirk their responsibilities or they should not strive for results. Adjusting our expectations to others' productivity is meant to be temporary. By recalibrating the expectations managers are likely to get more out of their people in the long run.
Managers, Adjust Your Expectations (Without Lowering the Bar)
by Rebecca Zucker HBR May 27, 2020
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