Resources_Swae_Harvard_Business_review_Approaches to Solving Problems in the Workplace

Tips on how to make Remote Work, work for you

It’s Here to Stay

4 May 2022 4 min Read

Resources_Swae_Harvard_Business_review_Approaches to Solving Problems in the Workplace

This is a recap of Harvard Business Review’s  @HarvardBiz “The Realities of Remote Work” (download the full PDF at the bottom of this article) by Laura Amico. 

For some great tips for remote work, within this recap (and the full article) there are some essential questions that you should be asking your now to help them get more adapted to the hybrid work environment.  

Asking these questions and getting in front of potential issues is the best way to handle all of this, and we’ve included an extra chart below for some important information about companies offering hybrid work models. This could help your people adjust further, and if your organization can understand that there are some concerns to address then it can combat larger issues that could potentially hit you down the road. 

There are two critical questions that you can ask of your people, and it may behove you to also make an ask for ideas and solutions to help solve the issues that could arise (this is what Swae is meant for!).  

“ How has the pandemic changed how you think about work-from-home opportunities? Have your work-life boundaries shifted in ways that you are happy (or unhappy) with? Does “always on” mean that you are more productive?”

Laura Amico @HiLauraAmico

MORE KNOWLEDGE  |  LESS TIME

The Two Minute Takeaway

KEY TAKEAWAY 1

The pressure is building

Some of us have had remote work situations for a long time so there was no shifts or changes needed; however, that is certainly not the case in many offices around the globe.  
 
The pressure is building as managers are beginning to feel a lot more pressure to respond instantaneously, which causes more stress.

Source, HBR

There’s also a work-life balance issue that needs to be addressed ahead of the curve so that the pressure doesn’t cause more harm as it builds.

People aren’t leaving their computer screens (you can see that chart in the full PDF that you can download below), which is also a concern for the health of an employee.

(Being on a computer 24 x 7 is NOT good for anyone, but we don’t have to tell anyone that, right?!)

KEY TAKEAWAY 2

Trusting how much work is getting done in-office versus at home

This is a chart that reveals what managers think about in-office workers versus remote workers and how they’re performing. What’s interesting is that the response to this particular question came back with 50% of managers that disagreed that the performance of remote workers was lower than those in the office, and 50% agreed. So, this is a vital mission and questions to also ask your managers so that you can get a taste of how this is going by departments or teams.

Source, HBR

Why This Matters

Remote work is here to stay, so the more tips for remote work that leaders can receive, the better, because of lot of these issues are new to many. Again, not everyone has had remote work environments/hybrid models in place before 2020. There is going to be a split of how people operate in these remote/hybrid models. Some people can adapt easily and find it more rewarding, and then there will be those that have serious issues separating “being at home” and having to actually DO work at home (emphasis on the fact that they aren’t doing work hardly at all). Asking questions like the ones shown here in these charts could help you get you ahead of the game when it comes to dealing with issues arising now (versus later). And, this is a time to look to your people to get more ideas as to how to ensure your employees don’t overdo it and end up working way too long not getting proper rest or time away from the computer/phone/whatever other device.

Here’s some extra research (not provided in the PDF) if you’re curious…

Are you working for a company that’s thinking about getting rid of the hybrid (remote + in-office) work model?

Harvard Business Review did some research around this topic (you can see this in the chart here below) as to what it would mean if a company did NOT offer a hybrid work model now and the numbers are staggering.

If you’ve thought about cutting that hybrid model out, think again! Companies that cut out the hybrid model could lose more than 40% of their employees (this study asked over 10K people in the U.S. which is a pretty good sample set).

Download the HBR Report

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This recap references the Harvard Business Review article by Laura Amico @HiLauraAmico.

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