The epidemic has caused massive upheavals in the professional and personal lives of employees. It would transform how we work, communicate, commute, eat, shop, travel. Most employees have to accept the sudden changes to their work routine. It is a particularly difficult time as it has deprived people of their autonomy, of the extent to which they have discretion over their actions. Autonomy is a psychological need and lack of it is harmful to the employees well being and performance.
The epidemic has brought about health risks, the possibility of layoffs, limit physical movements and compulsory work from home requirements.
How do employees, managers, organisations quickly regain their autonomy, especially when they are struggling to exercise control over their life?
For employees
Assess and modify the environment - Working from home is not synonymous with autonomy. Achieving autonomy requires effort. Start by defining a clear boundary between "office" and "home" ( when I am wearing the headphone when I am in this room). It will help in detaching yourself from the other half and will be beneficial for employee performance and well-being. Experiencing too much spillover between the two will undermine feelings of authenticity and control. This arrangement of work from home is likely to continue for a long time, if not forever, and so customise your office space and workflow to make it meaningful and as comfortable as possible.
Embrace perks of working from home - Working from home has one major benefit - savings on commuting time. This can be massive, on an average 3 hours a day. Use this time to get more sleep, spend more time with family, connect with your friends, learn a new skill, develop hobbies. Leverage this time to feel more authentic and in control of your life. resist the temptation to put in more work hours !!
Don't forget to take care of yourself - The epidemic has forced the closure of offices, schools restricted movements, dictated interaction with others and has dictated many aspects of an individuals life which are not in your control in any way. hence practising self-care by investing time, money, effort to improve some part of your well being is important.
For managers
Replace mismanagement wit constant check-ins Managers who are used to micromanage will find it difficult to manage employees working from home. many companies have initiated the process wherein employees are allowed to work from wherever they wish and whatever time convenient. This of course depends on the nature of the work involved. Focussing on the output over the process would help in this regard.
Give neurotic employees another look - Neuroticism is associated with greater sensitivity to and vigilance in the face of environmental threats. Such employees may prove very reliable and effective team members during crisis times. They perform very well in group task settings. Hence managers should consider revisiting and potentially updating their beliefs about employees.
For organisations
Organisation culture is the key - Compliance to company policies and holding people accountable when employees are working remotely can be challenging. This can be a problem when dealing with unmotivated employees. It can also have negative effects on workaholics as they may experience burnouts as peer performance is not easily observable. This brings forth the importance of company culture. Have clear and sensible norms and expectations regarding working from home. Also recognising and rewarding employees who embody organisational values can be a great way to promote culture and encourage others to follow. Organisational culture performs like an invisible hand driving certain behaviours when no one is watching.
Think beyond recovery to designing future work - the epidemic has highlighted certain deficiencies of traditional office work. the rationale of fixed hours working in a particular work area is losing its relevance as we have seen during the last six months that flexibility and autonomy are associated with greater productivity, job creativity and performance.
This would be the right time to take a step back and think about the need for a central office and how the whole process can be redesigned to encourage the employees and also to get the best out of them which in turn would benefit the organisation.
This epidemic has highlighted several outdated business practices and te inefficiencies that cannot be ignored. Organisations have a once in a lifetime opportunity to reimagine the workplaces of tomorrow.
Restore Your Sense of Control — Despite the Pandemic
by Eric M. Anicich, Trevor A. Foulk, Merrick R. Osborne, Jake Gale and Michael Schaerer
HBR 2020/09
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