What: Work from home creates new tensions that need to be taken into account by leaders in order to make them sustainable for all members of the team.

Why it is important: It is all about equality, showing example, and taking into account the differences, especially for the most vulnerable class of workers (women, mothers).

With the development of remote working, new usages appear, but also new tensions, that could be detrimental to the most vulnerable class of workers. The Harvard Business Review goes through 3 tensions created by the hybrid workplace and explores ways to overcome them.

Tension created by the opposition of working anytime vs. all the time: there is a difference between giving individuals the chance to work when they choose and imposing an expectation that they be available all the time. This can feel especially heavy to carry for women having to deal with family and work. In order to offer an alternative, leaders should offer the flexibility to choose when they work, but also making clear that there should be times when they’re offline (by limiting communications, or having company-wide no work times).

Tension created by the opposition between isolation and invasion: for many employees, the office brings connections with others, and offers the chance to interact. Trying to reproduce the connection online can give to some the feeling to be invaded. It is recommended to leaders to institute moments of exchanges about non work related topics, in order to share personal experience and reinforce the bond.

Tension created by the opposition between what is possible and what is preferred: corporate organisations tend to favour individuals able to work all the time, which comes as a conflict with the notion of working from home, which provide flexibility (especially for women). As a consequence, a flexibility bias  has developed pre-pandemic, making leaders feel that flexible positions were less interesting and inspirational than being all the time in the office. As a consequence, to combat this bias, it is key that organisations set the example, by avoiding having different systems among the teams.

How to deal with hybrid workplace-induced tensions