The BBC reports that the results of a recent Microsoft survey are showing a huge disparity between how efficiently workers feel they work from home and managers perception of productivity. The report highlights that ‘While 87% of workers felt they worked as, or more efficiently, from home, 80% of managers disagreed.’
Since the pandemic the appetite of workers to work from home has greatly increased. People are seeing the positive impact it can have on their work-life balance, not to mention the financial savings that can be made by cutting the commute and all the other trimmings. So, does this disparity say more about us as leaders? If workers really have adapted to work more effectively from home, should we be looking to adapt ourselves to better support them?
The BBC report quotes Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella as saying that this tension needed to be resolved as workplaces were unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic work habits.
‘We have to get past what we describe as ‘productivity paranoia’, because all of the data we have that shows that 80% plus of the individual people feel they’re very productive – except their management thinks that they’re not productive.
That means there is a real disconnect in terms of the expectations and what they feel.’
What can we do as leaders?
There’s no doubt that managing teams remotely is much more challenging for managers and leaders, requiring a completely different skill set and a great deal of trust. But by showing our teams a willingness to be flexible and adapt to their needs, we are demonstrating our commitment to our staff. With acute labour shortages in the UK, can we afford not to listen to our staff and adapt?
By taking the time to reflect on and develop leadership styles our clients have felt better equipped to manage their teams no matter where they’re based. Why not give us a call?
