9 ways to adapt to the new world of work

According to the latest Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition from Total Brain, between November and December there was a 48% increase in the risk of depression—a risk level not seen since this past spring. Further, employees’ focus dropped 62%—a record low since the inception of the research in February 2020. While remote working has its benefits, some significant changes need to be considered for this style of working to be sustainable.

Check out these 9 working habits to stop, start, and strive for to adapt and succeed in the new world of work.

Stop:

• Prioritizing “all-or-nothing" work models where everyone has to be physically in the office or everyone must stay remote. Most organizations are adopting a “hybrid” model of work where individuals return to the office for 2-3 days a week, and the remainder of the time they continue to work from home.

• Accepting meetings outside of working hours. Set boundaries and then clearly communicate them.

• Feeling guilty about prioritizing personal and vacation time. Plan a guilt-free vacation—and enjoy.

Start:

• 15-minute meetings that include an agenda with actionable items for discussion. This can easily be achieved by only including the necessary people, establishing an agenda in advance, and staying on topic.

• Focusing on the working needs of each employee. Consider which employees thrive in a remote working environment compared to those who prefer meeting in-person. Adjust hybrid models of work accordingly.

• Prioritizing meetings you really need to attend.Explore the Driver-Approver-Contributor-Informed (DACI) decision-making framework, and try out ways to assign or take on specific roles in your team when it comes to group decisions.

Strive:

• To find ways your teams can work asynchronously. Improve communication with tools and strategies to empower your people to manage their own time.

• To be present during calls. Give your full attention to the person on the other side of the screen and avoid other virtual meeting landmines such as rambling discussion and not establishing clear action items.

• To think mobile. Reimagine current processes and find ways to make them mobile, even for areas that didn’t see possible, like performance evaluations or even managing payroll.

The goal is to be productive and mindful of priorities at work and in life. Take the time and necessary patience to discover what will work best for your organization and its employees.