How To Build A Work-From-Home Culture That Works
The novelty and panic is wearing off of the COVID-19 crisis, and we’re starting to settle into an ever-shifting, uncertain “new normal.” For many of us, that new normal includes working from home for a long time. Some companies have decided to keep their employees working from home until the fall, or until 2021, or even forever. There’s talk of 4-day work-weeks, or alternating periods of work-at-the-office and work-from-home to avoid over-crowding offices.
Opinions vary as to the desirability of working from home, but one thing is certain: leading employees through a long-term transition like this one is different from leading through an acute crisis where people are hoping for a quick return to normal.
When the shutdown hit, workers suddenly saw their polished professional façades collide with their messy personal experiences. Kids and pets made regular appearances on video calls. The new lifestyle spawned memes and calls for empathy and a general acceptance of a weird but temporary reality. A weird, frustrating, temporary blip.
Except, of course, it turns out to not be so temporary. And situations that are acceptable during a blip can be extremely problematic over the long term. If you’ve ever experienced burnout, you know what this is about.
Over the long term, differing expectations in the workplace can lead to conflict, resentment and lowered morale. It’s essential for leaders to identify those expectations, manage them, and give their team the tools to do the same.
One major source of mismatched expectations relates to that clash of personal and professional. At first, we brushed it off as the necessary result of a sudden and unexpected change. But as time goes on and work-from-home becomes the new normal, people will have different ideas about professionalism and productivity. Employees with difficult home lives, or time-consuming responsibilities like child or elder care, might struggle even as they seem fine on the surface. Team dynamics and emotional well-being will shift without those “water cooler” moments of connection. It becomes harder to tell whether somebody is struggling, and harder to lend a hand if they are.
A new normal calls for a new set of shared norms. And creating norms works best when it’s done with intention.
Norms are the shared expectations around which we structure our workplaces, families and social groups. They relate to how you speak, act and dress; who has more status than whom; and what behaviours are considered unacceptable. Most of the time, nobody talks about them. Sometimes the board or executives will develop a mission statement or boast about their organization’s culture. But most of the time, norms develop organically and everyone is expected to pick them up through social cues.
This “you don’t talk about fight club” approach poses challenges in the best of times. For one thing, norms that don’t get named don’t get examined. This can lead to problematic and dysfunctional norms becoming entrenched in organizations and impacting employees until they reach a point of crisis.
On top of that, not everybody is equally adept at picking up non-verbal cues. Relying on unspoken codes of conduct can lead to neurodiverse team members feeling confused and left out, even being ostracized. The same goes for folks who grew up in cultures where direct communication is prioritized over “guessing” what others think or feel.
In times of rapid change and upheaval, the challenges are even more serious. Team members will have different expectations about the extent to which existing norms should be upheld, and how they should be adapted to the new situation. When these expectations aren’t communicated, problems are bound to come up - and may even grow, unchecked, until they result in major conflict or high turn-over rates.
The solution is simple, but it’s not easy.
Your team needs to talk about norms and culture. They need to be able to express their needs and expectations, and come to an agreement about how everybody will work together. They need the skills to navigate tough conversations without digging in their heels or making it personal.
As a leader, you can get the ball rolling by modelling the same behaviour. Acknowledge that it’s uncomfortable to talk about these things. Let your team know what you need from them, and why. Give them a safe opportunity to share their own thoughts, and listen with an open mind. Show a willingness to change. Above all, keep those lines of communication open. Let honest dialogue about your team’s norms become one of your team’s norms.
When you lift that cone of silence and give your team the power to shape their own workplace experiences, you’ll probably see a rise in morale, engagement, creativity and productivity. You can build a greater sense of belonging and inclusion. You might even see leaders emerge from unexpected places.
There’s a good chance that this exercise will be tough for your team - and even for you. Communicating with clarity and empathy is a skill set that takes time to develop - and it’s made more difficult by a culture that encourages us to choose between passively avoiding conflict or aggressively trying to “win” every discussion. There may also be existing dynamics that make it hard for the team to speak openly and regulate its own conflicts. In that case, an impartial trainer or facilitator can be your best friend. If you’d like to talk about how Stage Light Communications can help your team talk about Fight Club, contact us for a free consultation.