Socialization is another important issue when talking about remote work. Even though the managers in our interviews know the importance of socialization they do not take any specific actions because the employees seem to organize it themselves. However, some managers have started organizing “fika” at set times, where the employees have a chance to socialize.
Further we believe that the implied short-term nature of this situation has managers reluctant to make extensive efforts to solve an issue believed to be temporary. It is important to note that the uncertainty of the situation is making people hesitant and only time will tell whether they made the right choice. the industry experts that we studied had different ways of
recommending increased socialization. Zoom and Microsoft try to make meetings fun (Marais, 2020, Microsoft, 2020) and GitLab says that managers should intentionally create social interactions between workers, for example, one-on-one “coffee chats” (informal two person chats), virtually touring co-workers houses, and larger, casual group meetings (Informal
Communication in an all-remote environment
Trello encourages non-work activities and conversations between employees (Ryder and Moon, 2020). There are two sides of the coin. Social distancing can lead to a lower level of stress, but it can also lead to depression (Miller, 2020). We can understand that the actions from the managers could be different if the crisis and remote work was due to some other
cause than the coronavirus. Of course, we understand that managers do not want to risk the employees’ health by recommending them to meet and socialize together. We can imagine that if the crisis was due to something else, such as only economic issues, it would be easier for managers to recommend the employees to meet, knowing that it would not hurt them or their health in any way.interview, and she also reminds everyone to go out for walks. All
managers in our interviews could also state that the number of sickness has not changed compared with the sick numbers when people were working from home. Since remote work is believed to be a short-term solution no big efforts have been done from the managers to ensure the right ergonomics, even though some people (according to M1) do not have the
optimal place to work from
Since the communication on distance makes it harder to see feelings and facial expressions, M1 finds it hard to notice the employee’s feelings and to see how they feel. When it comes to different actions from the managers side, M1 states that they will take different actions if it shows that the remote work will become a long term solution, if people are supposed to work six month, then the managers will maybe order desks to every employees house etc. As
mentioned above in previous section about socialization, remote work can lead to different state of health such as lower stress level, loneliness, isolation, and even depressioNeither M1 or M2 have experienced any problems when it comes to separate the work from leisure and their employee’s ability to separate the work from leisure. No strange working hours have
been mentioned and M1 and M2 remains and encourages their employees to take coffee breaks, go for walks and so on. The conclusion we can draw of that is that it can be different from leader to leader how they handle the issue, and of course it depends on if they have any problems in the organization or not. M3 has experienced one case where the employee felt
that he or she is working to much
so she tried to solve the problem by restructure the schedule. In her own case it happens that she wants to do “just one more thing” and then she is done. But as a leader for others she does not do anything special if the employees do not come with any request. It is an important issue to keep in mind as a leader and to be aware of the workers and their routines because earlier study has shown that working from home can lead to more working hours, difficulties
with separating between work and leisure, and to stress (Grant et al., 2013, p. 541). And working more hours is really something that M3 could testify about based on the own experiences. GitLab (2020) emphasises the importance of not celebrating overtime or working longer hours than usual. We believe that this will be an important issue if employees are
finding it easier to work overtime. Communicating to employees that overtime is the exception to the rule and should be used only when necessary (as in the case of M1) should be standard practice for managers in order to help separate work from leisure.There are both opportunities and challenges with remote work and the situation that the world is facing right now. The opportunities are related to more efficiency and more focus, all of the managers in
Conclusion
our interviews can attest to that. However, M1 found it difficult with one-on-one meetings, and feel that the personal connection between the employee and leader deteriorates. This can be a problem when the leader follows an involved leadership style. For M2 and M3 giving same instructions many times and keeping the team feeling is a challenge. Secondary sources that we have found ensures the things the managers in the interviews are chasing, such as
increased focus and high productivity levels, and also that we see that remote work is something that really worksThere are both opportunities and challenges with remote work and the situation that the world is facing right now. The opportunities are related to more efficiency and more focus, all of the managers in our interviews can attest to that. However, M1 found it difficult with one-on-one meetings, and feel that the personal connection between the
employee and leader deteriorates. This can be a problem when the leader follows an involved leadership style. giving same instructions many times and keeping the team feeling is a challenge. Secondary sources that we have found ensures the things the managers in the interviews are chasing, such as increased focus and high productivity levels, and also that we see that remote work is something that really works (Bloom et al., 2013, Choudhury et al
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