When workers opt to work creatively in group settings, businesses prosper. Despite two years of disturbances brought on by the pandemic, this conventional viewpoint is still valid. Many businesses have been calling workers back to the office since the pandemic is going to come to an end, but they are struggling to accommodate this change.
Some managers have even devised ways to allure employees like asking them to work only a few days a week or sometimes allowing them to leave early. Enforcing these agreements, though, could be challenging if workers aren’t given the opportunity to express what assistance they require from their employers in order to be successful.
This article won’t expand on or include generic strategies for getting employees back to work, even if employers want them to. Instead, it will clarify how innovation and collaboration can take place in virtual contexts without compromising, if not necessarily augmenting, the wellbeing and productivity of workers. Depending on the nature of your work, you might be able to do it a great deal without a physical workplace. Employers may learn to accept the hybrid, flexible, call center time tracking software such as Controlio and autonomous arrangements that have already come their way, or at the very least, discover them to be an avenue to enhance employee performance.
Since we already had international and networked connectedness, the pandemic allowed us to work in a new style that was more flexible and independent. Our wants and preferences influenced the HR and policy decisions that impacted us as we adapted to this new way of life. We genuinely wanted to be able to choose our own schedules and locations for work, even while we wanted company, team, or individual communication on expectations. According to a recent Jabra study, managers can create comfortable work environments (within operational constraints) by letting team members set their own schedules rather than adhering to traditional “9-to-5” working hours. Knowledge workers are employees who learn and apply that knowledge to products and services.
According to the same study, knowledge workers would rather work from home and visit the office when necessary than have weekly team “in office” and “at home” days. It might not be essential for everyone to be in the same building for a meeting, even if they are told to walk into the office. For example, in order to select ideas from many viewpoints, we switched from brainstorming in person using sticky notes on a board to brainstorming virtually using shared online documents or platforms.
Despite this shift, virtual brainstorming still yields more and higher-quality results than in-person brainstorming. According to a recent Harvard company Review article, groupthink and its possible effects on company outcomes can be avoided by using virtual brainstorming, which enables everyone to freely voice their opinions and be heard.
Parents of children with special needs, persons with impairments, and those most susceptible to disruptions from pandemics are among the many employees who can benefit from virtual brainstorming rather than in-person brainstorming sessions. According to a recent study of Harvard Business School workers, three out of four work as caregivers. If requested to come into the office, that obligation may keep them from participating in brainstorming, increasing the likelihood that they will be ignored and not called upon when chances arise. Since the one-day event necessitates travel and housing, which clashes with their household schedule and forces them to make trade-offs between family demands and business prospects, we advise against excluding caregivers from brainstorming sessions.
According to studies, women are mostly responsible for providing care at home, therefore their lack of flexibility and autonomy presents the biggest obstacle, which causes many of them to quit or not advance in their careers. By allowing caregivers to arrange schedules with family members and participate from a convenient place, virtual brainstorming sessions increase accessibility. Adults with sensory overload who require brainstorming sessions spread across several touchpoints to take a break from the day and assimilate information will also benefit from virtual meetings. These illustrations demonstrate how autonomy and flexibility may maintain the contentment and integrity of your talent pool, hence improving retention.
Gallup claims that remote and hybrid workers are more engaged than those who work on-site (37% vs. 29%), which boosts output. One is that it will require highly qualified managers who are results-accountable for the performance, communicate with their team members at least once per week, and have clearly established expectations.
5 More Strategies for Creating an Environment That Fosters Flexibility, Autonomy, and Higher Employee Engagement Here are 5 more strategies for leaders to create an environment that focuses on flexibility and autonomy and allows higher employee engagement.
- Provide a coaching culture that works for all.
- Give business departments (such as production, sales, accounting, customer service, etc.) the freedom to choose flexible, independent strategies depending on what suits each individual and the organization.
- Assign teams to write out criteria (e.g., defining a window of time for intense cooperation, allowing the remainder of the calendar for each member to complete tasks or focus).
- Reduce productivity monitoring activity when and where possible, as this can exacerbate anxiety and undermine leadership-employee trust.
- Use output accomplishments and other outcome metrics to evaluate employee performance rather than activity or hours worked (e.g., sales generation as opposed to sales pitches).
