Change in approach for a changed work order

Descend of the Covid-19 pandemic has restricted movements and gatherings which had led to an increasing demand for work from home now, more than ever. Given the present circumstances, it is here to stay for a long time. In spite of the flexibility it offers employees and cost cut to organizations, handling an entire or major part of the workforce in a completely remote fashion is a challenging task - absence of meeting teams in person being a major factor.

The lockdown which has surpassed over five months now has been one of the most challenging experiences of all time for workplace managers and teams alike. Working in silos while being confined at home for such a long period has affected employee morale and motivation over time, not to mention the intense psychological stress it has imposed as we aren’t used to this. Many team leads seem to have observed challenges in understanding employee issues completely. Increasing instances of team members being affected by personal distractions owing to sickness of a family member or other worrying responsibilities at home have gained momentum given the reduced divide between workplace and home, gauging which can rather be a challenge for managers themselves. Handling this new crises with sensitivity therefore requires an astute perception of the problems and addressing them accordingly. Practicing empathy becomes a key skill for managers to harness during this time, an appropriate exercise of which shall result in effective relationship management between members and their team leads.

Challenges among these remote-working members owing to miscommunication of actual task requirements and the inability to adequately comprehend the same besides other technical glitches and network errors that are uncalled also affect individual productivity and that of the team as a whole. In order to sustain employee motivation and focus towards task completion, team leads can adopt over-communication approach with a positive vibe to rule out any divergence observed. Also, in order to understand work progress and obstacles faced by the employees at various stages, supervisors can have frequent discussions and be approachable for team members. Managers in this regard must don a more responsible hat of being an effective communicator who can maintain a stable line of communication and disseminate concrete messages as to-be-achieved goals within the team without any scope for confusion or grapevine.

Reinventing managerial skills becomes the need of the hour in order to stay connected and build trust among managers and their team members through a constant and uninterrupted two-way communication. Despite the conundrums organizations find themselves today, such managerial approach that choose to re-focus and re-prioritize in the new ecological order of a work-from-home setting shall certainly pave way for effective team management and meeting organization objectives.