The Intangibles – Three Shifts To Get the Best Out of Remote Work 2-minute read Written by Justin Deonarine, I/O Psychologist We need to shift our style to get the best out of working remotely. But how? Given the shifts that have happened over the past year and a half, and the success found in the new working environments, the concepts of remote and hybrid work environments continue to dominate the conversation as the world slowly reopens. A refined Google search for tips and best practices while working from home produces over 32,000,000 results. Most of the advice available is based on tangible factors, such as the technology that you’ll need, maintaining habits and routines, and setting up a productive workspace. These recommendations simply cover the basics that were required to get through an urgent period of adjustment. However, remote working isn’t a temporary consideration anymore. What about the intangibles that will help us adapt to this new working world? How do you need to adapt your style to get the best out of working remotely? Based on our experience working with organizations throughout the pandemic, we’ve found three important areas where shifts need to be made by employees, management and leadership alike. Completing Tasks: The way we approach decision-making in the remote environment is different from an in-office environment, as we are required to operate with a higher degree of independence. As a result, we need to be willing to drive tasks or projects forward on our own, as well as become more comfortable making smaller decisions without input from others. Maintaining Relationships: There is less natural opportunity for interaction with others, as we’re no longer working together in the same place. However, it’s still important to maintain relationships with others in the organization, despite not seeing them on a regular basis. Sometimes this requires us to reach out to connect with others, as well as actively evaluate whether or not teamwork could help us achieve goals in a more effective and efficient manner. Leading Remote Teams: Leaders and managers also need to shift their approach based on an additional factor. The virtual environment makes it tougher to casually check in on employees without becoming overbearing, and different employees will still need individualized levels of support and guidance. It’s now even more important for those in leadership positions to strike a balance between providing the freedom to make independent decisions and being available to support their team. In order to address these three factors, Psychometrics Canada is adding new content to various Work Personality Index reports. In our next complimentary webinar, I will be diving deeper into our need to adapt, as well as showcasing the new, remote working focused content that you can expect to see moving forward. Join us on September 22, 2021, at 1:00 PM EDT. Register Today!
