Prevent the return to the office from being a storm

Leaders can now take steps to make their employees feel supported and safe before they resume in-person work.

As vaccination against covid-19 spreads throughout the bulk of the population, a possible return to offices is beginning to be considered. Many organizations are considering implementing a hybrid model, where teams come into the office a few days a week or a month.

For employees who have been isolated during the pandemic, going back to the office will be an exciting process; For those who have become accustomed to the home office or suffer from persistent health problems, it will cause anxiety. Most will experience a mixture of both sensations; In short, the return to the new normal will be a storm of emotions.

As a leader, your role is to give teams as much certainty about the future landscape as possible, and while no one really knows what the world will look like in six months, starting today you can take a few steps to make your teammates feel supported and safe. before returning to the workplace.

Be transparent. Don't wait to communicate what's on your mind, even if you don't have a lot of information; For example, say outright, "We're definitely going to be working from home until July, and after that we're considering going hybrid." Uncertainty breeds anxiety and saying something is much better than remaining silent; Even when you can't give an exact answer, your teams will take comfort in knowing you're not ignoring the problem.

When questions come up, answer as honestly as possible, and once you have a plan, make sure you brief managers on all the details so they can communicate the big picture clearly and assertively to their teams. Remember: the goal of transparency is to build trust and reduce unnecessary stress.

Address concerns from the start. She begins by trying to better understand where they stand. Expressing everyone's preferences and concerns early on can draw your teams to the office, rather than force them back. (After the events of last year, it will be almost impossible to use the typical excuse: "Our company is not set up for remote work. Everyone is required to report to the office.")

You can use survey-type tools with questions such as:

• How many days a week would you like to come to the office?
• What would help you to make the return more comfortable?
• Would you like to share any kind of circumstance that would make returning to the office especially difficult or distressing for you?
• What activities do you prefer to do in the office (for example: long meetings, meetings of new teams, brainstorming sessions, etc.)?
• What activities do you prefer to do at home?

Share the results of the survey, it's important. If you would like employees to return to the office five days a week, but the survey reveals that they want to return only two, it would be very bad management to ignore that fact. Instead, use it as a starting point to talk honestly about it and make productive compromises. Include Human Resources staff in this discussion to ensure that any plan you follow takes into account the needs of all your employees.

Discuss expectations. As the space itself where you work loses relevance, the time you work will gain weight. Make a list of communication rules that will boost productivity and prevent burnout as part of your transition plan.

When you work from home, it's so easy to keep working… all the time. In 2020, Microsoft found that the number of messages its employees sent after standard business hours doubled, and that people who didn't typically work Saturdays and Sundays before the pandemic saw their workload increase threefold on weekends. It is normal that 71% of knowledge workers have suffered the famous bornout during the last year.

Here are some examples of these types of rules:

• All meetings must have a link to ensure remote team members can join.
• For larger meetings, with people in the office and working from other locations, each member will join from a different device so those who are remote don't feel left out.
• Everyone, whether they work in the office or not, is expected to be online during a reasonable period (for example, 9 am to 2 pm) and within normal business hours to coincide with the rest of their co-workers.

• Everyone will share their to-dos for the week via group email or via Slack.
• Leaders will host meetings from home at least one day a week to normalize remote work.

Involve your people. A fresh start is an opportunity to reimagine what the workplace is like, so turn this planning process into a creative endeavor. Try breaking employees into small focus groups to brainstorm ideas on how to make the most of their office space and in-person time. Involving your employees in this conversation can help uncover better ways of working, break up the subgroups that formed last year, and get everyone excited about the prospect of getting together again in the office.

Highlight the benefits of working in person. In a survey conducted at the end of 2020, PwC found that more than half of employees prefer to work from home three days a week or more. Probably not everyone is happy to return to the office, especially if they are asked to attend several days a week. Instead of demanding that your teams prepare to return, focus on highlighting the benefits of face-to-face work. If you used to organize cultural events or gatherings that people enjoyed, share a plan to revive them when that return finally comes. It is very possible that we have all felt some degree of loneliness or frustration at having to communicate through virtual means, remind everyone that going to the office solves both conflicts.

Present change as an experiment. Human beings resist change. Although many people look forward to returning to the office, there will be plenty of anxiety about it, especially considering the transition won't be seamless from the start. To alleviate staff anxiety, frame the return as a gradual process of trial and error. Tell them the company will test version no. 1 of the hybrid model and that they will modify it based on their feedback; this way, everyone will feel less pressure and overwhelmed.

Although the return to the offices may still be a long way off, it is likely that most of us are already thinking about what it will be like. If you start implementing these tips now, you'll help your employees feel more confident about what's to come in the near future, more excited to reconnect with their peers, and much more supported by their leaders.

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