A new study has warned of the dangers of burning out employees who work from home.听
Vast swathes of the global population reverted to WFH to combat the coronavirus pandemic, a development听which can have benefits for work/life balance.听
However听Adaptavist surveyed 2,800 knowledge workers from听across the UK, USA, Canada and Australia for its听Digital Etiquette study听and identified听threats to long-term productivity and employee wellbeing posed by improvised solutions.听
Overall, 82% of people reported they are equally (47%) if not more productive (35%) working from home, and company-wide communications have improved during the pandemic.听
Among the key benefits to the transition were听鈥榣earning we can be more flexible in how we work鈥� and 鈥榳orking in a more agile fashion with faster decision-making鈥�, along with a reduction in office politics.听
However听the absence of boundaries between work and personal lives was the highest ranked threat to motivation for employees.听
The 鈥榓lways-on nature鈥� of digital communications (42%) and the 鈥榥umber of channels I have to check鈥� (31%)听were seen as听the greatest sources of stress and frustration in work-related communications.听
For 26% switching off from work was the greatest challenge. Temptations to keep working (cited by 15%) seem to be a bigger problem than pressure from others (11%).听60% of respondents don鈥檛 switch off notifications after work.听One in three workers (33%) is now using WhatsApp for work.
鈥淗颈驳丑–performing teams embody mastery, autonomy and purpose, so it鈥檚 natural that people adopt the tools that have proven to work well in their personal lives when faced with new challenges in their professional lives,鈥澨齭aid听Simon听Haighton-Williams, CEO of Adaptavist.听听
鈥�However, organising the chaos and confusion between these channels is key to maximising the benefits they bring.鈥�听