Proactively considering the pitfalls that can arise when a colleague simply can’t be in the office for a prolonged period, can help mitigate any issues before they come to a head. By Kate Kearins.
The capability to work from home or away from the office is now widely available and accepted. I still consider it a privilege, as not everyone has the option to WFH, either due to company policies and expectations or because their roles require in-person presence.
What happens when not everyone in a company can WFH? Whether due to chronic illness or other life challenges, sometimes there are long periods of time when a certain person is not there in-person. How can organisations best work to accommodate the exception to the working from the office expectation? How can we make remote working, when everyone else is not, even better?
Kate Kearins
These scenarios and solutions, based on the feedback and experiences of colleagues, may help.
Scenario: Being the only one online in a hybrid meeting can feel like everyone else is talking underwater. It can be difficult to discern what people are saying when more than one person is talking at a time – especially as people chat together before the meeting starts or when they are laughing at a joke you just didn’t hear.
Solution: Check your tech. Ask the meeting organiser to do a sound-check with you before the session begins. That will help everyone remember you are present (albeit virtually). If appropriate, offer to speak at the start of the meeting. The meeting lead can also regularly make sure you can hear, and have a chance to respond to, what’s being said.
Scenario: You’re the only one beaming in for a meeting, and you have no idea why you’re there.
Solution: Just say no to the ‘naked agenda’. Hybrid meetings, perhaps more than any other group session, are generally better with a well-planned agenda. The agenda helps keep the focus clear and the meeting to time. Even if informally agreed at the outset of the meeting, an agenda will also help ensure everyone present, virtually or in-person, has shared expectations of the intent and outcome. Combined with the principles above, an agenda circulated in advance can make the difference between seemingly aimless (aka, naked) interactions and a meeting with a clear (aka, well-dressed) point.
Scenario: While attending a meeting remotely, you notice some non-verbal cues among a few in-person colleagues that leave you feeling uneasy about your place in the team.
Solution: Keep communication clear. It can be all too easy to (mis)interpret a raised eyebrow or a silent frown, especially if you are already feeling detached from your organisation as you WFH. It may well be appropriate for you to share any concerns with your manager – but where possible, frame the conversation in a way that gives your colleagues the benefit of the doubt.
Scenario: When you can’t be in the office in person, you naturally miss out on the ad-hoc or scheduled discussions, check-ins, sense-making, and even random acts of kindness with colleagues.
Solution: Check in (don’t check up) with your WFH workmate/s: My long-suffering (from Long Covid) colleague reported being deeply envious of her teammates being together, and so grateful when someone from her team reached out to let her know they were thinking of her. When a fruit basket or box of cupcakes from work arrived at her door, she says it gave her a boost that lasted for days – and made her even more determined to return to good health and to the office. As she made that transition, my colleague noted her team scheduled hybrid meetings (guided by the above principles) so she could feel connected to them and the work programme. Connecting individually with colleagues over email or a quick call, can also work to show you care.
Affinity is the key to a happy and productive workplace. When WFH requirements disrupt the collective goal of affinity, steps can be taken to align thinking and interactions where possible, and to acknowledge when alignment is not always possible. Either way, proactively considering the pitfalls of when a colleague simply can’t be in the office can help mitigate issues before they arise and establish a cohesive, albeit hybrid approach to work.
Kate Kearins is Professor of Management and Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of two Faculties at Auckland University of Technology.
