Covid has meant most of us have changed the way we work. But how exactly has the pandemic affected workers at home? And what strategies are working for teams that we can all learn from? 

In our previous two posts, we looked at both the positive and negative effects of working from home over a prolonged period. The research was conducted by Cultivate Agility and The Team Space in Australia between May-August 2020. Team leaders and members were asked how working from home during and after lockdowns affected the team.

Check out some of the key insights that resulted from the survey here:

• It took a crisis to change the world… The Covid crisis has forced leaders to improve their leadership skills in keys areas of communication, collaboration, listening, nurturing relationships and connections. 
• Covid has highlighted the importance of team connections which pre-Covid were perhaps taken for granted, or not something the leader necessarily thought of as an area of responsibility. 
• The novelty of working from home may be wearing off as work and living has become blurred. This has ramifications for mental and physical health as well as family time. Fatigue is real and leaders need to be aware and manage this. 
• It’s increasingly difficult to replace the intuition and ‘feel’ one has when people are working from home. The sense of ‘energy’ is much harder to pick up in a remote environment. 
• The need for intentional social connection is paramount but needs to consider people who are beyond one’s immediate team. 
• Technology has been both a blessing but also a curse as people start to feel videoconferencing fatigue. 

Heaps here to ponder for all of us who lead organisations and/or anyone who continues to work from home to some extent. 

General Advice Warning

The information provided is to be regarded as general advice. Whilst we may have collected risk information, your personal objectives, needs or financial situations were not taken into account when preparing this information. We recommend that you consider the suitability of this general advice, in respect of your objectives, financial situation and needs before acting on it. You should obtain and consider the relevant product disclosure statement before making any decision to purchase this financial product.