In 2020, we were confined and started teleworking, initially for... 15 days! Eventually, it lasted over a year. At a time when the return to the workplace is being organised in stages, how can we make it easier to get back to work on site? Isabelle Morin, a trainer and coach specialising in teleworking, sheds some light on the subject.
Step 1: Taking a step back to support your team
Taking a step back means first of all taking stock of the long-term impact of 'imposed' teleworking. It was a period that generated stress: ambient stress in the face of an uncontrolled health situation, the threat of illness and death hovering invisibly, personal anguish linked to isolation...
Managers, you also need to be aware that two categories of teleworkers have gradually emerged.
On the one hand, some employees have gradually discovered the advantages and comfort of working from home:
- work-life balance ;
- more balanced relations with colleagues: more distance also means less affect.
They are afraid of returning to face-to-face work and negotiate maximum teleworking.
On the other hand, there are those who have not managed to get to grips with the teleworking format, praying day after day for a return to normality. Some of them have been overloaded: work has invaded their personal lives, and they can't wait to get back to their previous bearings. Others are suffering from a lack of social contacts: they can't wait to get back to their colleagues. Even those who were already teleworking before the first confinement, one day a week for example, testify to the lack of direct contact with their colleagues since they have been teleworking at 100 %.
In both cases, it is often difficult for your staff to admit that the way things work and the way they relate to each other are not the same. not the same as before.
Step 2: Be kind to yourself and your teams
Managers are doubly affected by this situation:
- they may have experienced these difficulties themselves. In this case, the first step is to recognise their own limitations with kindness;
- Their employees will no doubt have experienced similar difficulties. In a second phase, managers can then communicate about the difficulties they themselves have experienced and listen to them, while showing them the same kindness.
Daring to say to your team "During the pandemic, I managed as best I could but, between overnight orders and contradictory injunctions, I encountered the same difficulties as you. Can we help each other out" is being genuine. Such a manager will have the support and trust of his team.
A few tips to prepare for your return to the site:
- Keep it simple
- Reconnect everyone
- Free up your voice in the face of accumulated tension
- Defuse underlying interpersonal conflicts
Step 3: Get the word out so you can start afresh
Rather than trying to forget this "dreadful episode", you can bring to light the unique individual and collective experience that you and your colleagues have just gone through, so that you can make the most of it. Why not open up a forum for those who wish to do so to share their experiences?
Let's demystify this approach for managers and HR departments: of course, you're not going to improvise yourself as a psychologist or find solutions for employees! It's simply a question of allow them to express themselves and be heard This is not a question of changing the past or justifying oneself: simply saying things allows you to overcome them and move on to the next stage.
Some teleworkers, encountering difficulties or lacking professional stimulation, have "dropped out". This is also an opportunity to gradually 'reconnect' them with the dynamics of the team and the company.
Step 4: Define a clear, precise framework to encourage team cohesion
The new working environment now includes the application of health regulations, which raise their share of questions, concerns and misunderstandings: can I take off my mask during the break? Is Plexiglas enough? If you're speaking at a meeting, are you allowed to take off your mask so that you can be heard better?
On a day-to-day basis, there's no shortage of areas of disagreement! It is essential that the company clearly defines the rules applicable to on-site work. A explicit common framework will avoid many unproductive debates and derogatory remarks. The HR department can, for example, produce a fun infographic reminding people of the rules and display it in communal areas.
Of course, this clear and precise framework is far from being limited to health constraints. The medium/long-term issue is the general working framework: alternating teleworking/on-site working, new organisations linked to the company's situation following the crisis, etc. Many questions remain unanswered: how do we organise ourselves within our team? How do we develop teleworking in the long term? How can we promote "working together" while taking individual situations into account? And so on.
Today, the aim is neither to return to the situation prior to March 2020, nor to perpetuate the exceptional situation we have encountered since then. The challenge is to invent a new way of working that draws on these experiences, in terms of organisation, equipment and relationships. It's time to accept the present and build for the future. HR departments: it's up to you to propose a framework that managers can adopt to establish a new way of working for their team in a participative way.
These times of exchange and collective construction are all opportunities to refederate the team, to recreate a common dynamic to start again on good bases. They will enable the team to return to full functionality, differently and better than before. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to develop more meaning in your day-to-day work, greater efficiency for your team and greater well-being for everyone!
