Where is the border? Unlimited emails and phone rings. Sources of conflict in the world of teleworking, home office and hybrid working.
"How well teleworking started... Where are we now? I’m afraid of what tomorrow will bring." We have heard these thoughts often from employees in recent months. But the same doubts arise in many managers and CEOs. How can these sentences be continued? The employee might end with, "I'm quitting tomorrow. I can't stand being available 24 hours a day." The manager might think: "Tomorrow we will give him a written warning. We trusted him, but he has been performing under the expectations for weeks."
Why is teleworking and the home office successful? And what are the downsides? What new challenges have they brought?
Teleworking, home office and hybrid working have become increasingly common in most of the workplaces over the past year and a half. These forms of employment can help employees to achieve a better work-life balance, for example by saving travelling time to work. For employers, they can be a key to continuity of operations, including, for example, the retention of a competent workforce. Given their many advantages, and also the expectations of the employees, most companies are expected to maintain these options even after the pandemic situation will be eased.
There are also critical voices about how the difficulties of keeping connection and the conflicts arising from them slow down and hinder the cooperation of the employees and managers and ultimately the performance of the companies. Many people feel that teleworking and home office have taken away what they expected to benefit from.
Some employees anxiously check their inbox at dinner time, just in case an urgent email comes in. They are afraid to disconnect. Whereas, some managers spend valuable hours checking on colleagues, arguing with employees who seem unavailable. If the difficulties are not discussed through, the managers may find themselves spending most of the day on interviews and administration to replace the lost staff. They are also afraid from how much tension the right to disconnect can cause when implementing an urgent project.
The power of honest conversation
What can companies do to ensure that their teleworking, home office and hybrid working systems are sustainable? How can conflicts arising from the change of employment models be managed? The first step in connection with resolving a conflict is an honest conversation about what employers and employees need. A practical solution can be developed along these needs, with a focus on the future. This system can be further refined and modified in the light of experience.
If it sounds so simple, why does conflict resolution not work in the workplace?
The subordinate nature of the employment relationship can make employees to feel uncomfortable in such situation. Therefore, many employees avoid confrontation and the identification of real needs as much as possible. Many people feel that teleworking, home office, is a gift to them, and that they should be rewarded by being available for the employer all day. They may feel that they should not bother the manager unnecessarily with questions.
It's also difficult for managers to face the fact that some things don't work the way they used to because of new communication channels. For example, when assigning tasks, there may be misunderstandings on the part of employees, which managers are confronted with too late. Inexplicably, employees who are enthusiastic about their tasks at weekends can react angrily, full of with tension, to online meetings. Teams are late with submission of their works because some employees are at home working all night, while others are in the office during normal working hours. On the days they are in the office, employees jump in from one coffee break to another.
How can mediation support the workplaces?
What might the employee need? Predictability? Respect for their privacy? Confirmation that they can knock on virtual doors of the managers? What might the employer need? To ensure that the work is delivered on time and with the expected content? Active, available workers who are able to work?
An external, objective mediator can be very helpful in identifying the needs. Because of the differences of the positions that arise from the specificities of the employment relationship, the mediator can also talk separately with the participants if they are not yet ready to share certain information with the other.
During the discussion, the mediator allows room for a practicable solution based on the ideas and suggestions of the participants. At the beginning of the mediation it is not yet possible to know whether an agreement will be reached. However, the parties win if they can talk face to face about their difficulties and needs. They win by learning to listen to each other. They win by expanding their communication tools. All this will set them on a path where they will not run away from the conflicts of tomorrow, but will seek to understand and resolve them; and this makes it possible to maintain the employment for a long term.
Written by Adrienn Tar, mediator, attorney-at-law (Szecskay Law Firm), 15 November 2021
