The world has been living with Covid-19 for two years now. While the threat of the pandemic is greatly diminished thanks to vaccinations, nations and businesses around the world are still playing it safe due to the possibility of new waves of infections. As such, work from home arrangements and online meetings are still commonplace. Unfortunately, most people are getting a little sick of such meetings.
According to Hubspot’s 2022 Hybrid Work Report, up to 72 percent of workers are experiencing ‘Zoom Fatigue’, stating that virtual meetings and calls are becoming far too frequent and distracting. The report found that 40 percent of remote workers said that they missed spontaneous meetings with their work colleagues while 49 percent of office workers found staying motivated and connected with their team as the biggest challenge for this year.
One of the biggest recurring issues that has plagued businesses throughout the pandemic is that organizations try too hard to copy and paste the office environment into a remote setting in an effort to foster communication. Being a very different style of work, this type of brute forced communication often fails to elicit favorable results. According to Katie Burke, chief people officer at HubSpot, having more options is the best way to resolve the issue.
As the world pivot’s towards a more hybrid working environment, the best thing to do is develop a brand new company culture surrounding hybrid work engagements. The companies who will survive and thrive in the upcoming war for talent will be the ones that attract and retain top talent through their flexibility and empathy. In practice, this means giving employees the choice to work where they work best, be that at home or in the office. And then, spending time really thinking through how hybrid teams work together so that processes and practices also shift to account for this new normal.
