Most of the world went home last March…and is staying home. While the long-awaited vaccine is helping bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, the work-from-home era isn’t going anywhere.
According to a recent report from Mursion, “OOO, Out of Mind: The Unintended Impacts of Remote Work on Critical Communication,” only 9 percent of managers and 13 percent of employees plan to go back to the office full-time in the next six months.
Employees have found more life-work balance and improved productivity while working from home. As a result, many want to continue some form of hybrid work schedule. The time-honored tradition of five days in the office is most likely behind us.
The shift to a dispersed workforce presents both challenges and opportunities for workers and their companies. For current employees, the transition could have been as simple as bringing their laptop home and setting it up at their already-established home office. But for new employees, it can be difficult to assimilate to a brand-new team and learn a culture from afar.
How does a company help workers with such varied needs to succeed in remote work? The challenge lies not just in the day-to-day technical issues but in the communication and feedback needed for long-term development and growth.
Make Sure Critical Feedback Loops Aren’t Lapsing
When it comes to communication, it’s challenging to replace the in-person, face-to-face interactions of working together in an office. Imagine if the pandemic had happened 10 years ago; the tools just didn’t exist to facilitate the level of communication needed to drive a dispersed workforce.
But even the sophisticated communication tools of today leave gaps in communication. Whether it is competing priorities or simply avoiding the conversations altogether, the critical feedback needed to help grow employees — and in turn, their organizations — isn’t happening at the levels it was pre-COVID.
Employee reviews, an annual occurrence, and an essential part of employee development aren’t happening as often as they should. According to the report, only 35 percent of managers said they conducted an employee review since moving to remote work. While feedback from managers should be given as needed, reviews are essential to establish new goals. Without this feedback loop, employees might not know which areas to focus on improving. Delayed or absent reviews could halt their development, as well as the companies’. With remote work not going anywhere, it’s important to make sure these reviews are scheduled and held at an appropriate cadence.
Additionally, manager feedback should not be saved for a scheduled review. Instead, managers and employees need to establish open communication loops. How does an employee best like to receive feedback? A face-to-face Zoom call? An informal check-in over an instant message? Direct feedback left in a doc? Managers and employees should work together to establish a regular cadence of feedback that helps the employee improve immediately and paves the way for a positive yearly review.
Avoid Detouring Around Difficult Conversations
When employees are miles, or even states, away from one another, it can be easy to brush conflict under the rug and avoid a difficult conversation. Why bring up something uncomfortable when it is easier to let the sleeping beast lie?
Minor conflicts often have a way of snowballing out of control. It’s easier to address a small problem head-on than it is to resolve out-of-control disputes. Unfortunately, since this switch to work from home, difficult conversations aren’t happening with the frequency they once were. According to the report, 70 percent of employees and 55 percent of managers said they are either avoiding having difficult conversations or having them reluctantly.
Difficult conversations should be addressed by employees head-on. Whether it is taking responsibility for a mistake or addressing a personal conflict with a colleague, facing the problem head-on presents an opportunity to control the dialogue and offer a solution. While that can be difficult without daily, face-to-face opportunities, proactive outreach can go a long way. It shows integrity and trustworthiness in communicating directly about a conflict, problem, or mistake.
Avoiding a difficult conversation might be easier now, but letting fire go unextinguished will only create a more significant blaze and a larger mess to clean up in the future.
Open Communication Is Key for Success in Remote Careers
We can see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. The implications of the pandemic are far from over, however. Companies need a forward-thinking strategy to facilitate success in the office, and now in the home office.
Creating a culture that embraces constructive feedback sets the stage for employees to have more daily work satisfaction, reducing turnover and attrition. Open lines of communication create a space for day-to-day productivity and ultimately paves the way for long-term success.
