New Norms of Working: Driving Engagement in a Virtual World

For many, working from home has become the norm due to government imposed movement control orders. During this time, virtual meetings have grown in popularity and will likely continue to be the number one method of communicating post COVID-19. This pandemic has created a massive disruption and established new working norms. What does this mean for employees and organisations? To seek clarity, Leaderonomics conducted research on the impact of working from home.

Data was collected by interviewing several established business leaders and key opinion leaders (KOLs) across industries. Furthermore, various research papers covering similar topics were studied and compared. It was found in Part 1 of our research that. working from home adds anxiety, stress, and results in decreased productivity. Part 2 of the research indicates virtual meetings are not productive. However, the main culprit here is not the virtual meetings themselves, but the lack of training and onboarding for organisations to utilise them effectively.

This is typical of sudden and major disruptions that force us to make changes without being prepared.

As this new way of working is expected to stay for some time, specific organisation-wide interventions and re-designs can help restore some of the organisation's morale and productivity issues concerning working remotely.

The top pain points/problems faced by employees and organisations working from home were:

● Poor internet connectivity
● Working too much
● Loneliness, lack of human interactions and boredom
● Ineffective virtual meetings

Let us understand in-depth.

Working from Home Series:
Part 1 - New Norms of Working: Driving Engagement in a Virtual World
Part 2 - Working From Home: A New Normal or Existing Trend?
Part 3 - Working From Home as the New Normal: How Ready Are You?
Part 4 - Working From Home: Overcoming Challenges and Developing Steps to Success
Part 5 - Working From Home: Pros & Cons and the Different Arrangements