Distance may make the heart grow fonder in romantic relationships, but it appears to be having the opposite effect on our working relationships. The shift from working in-person to working from home has people hating on one another and it’s somehow not all Zoom’s fault.
Here is why the experts say we’ve lost trust in our colleagues this past year:
●It’s Hard To Bond Over Email. The chair of the department of sociology at the University of Toronto, Scott Schieman, says “trust is built by spending time together, not necessarily around work-related tasks.” It doesn’t matter if you’re using a group text to stay in touch or a Slack channel. There’s simply no substitution for interacting IRL.
●Gray Area Is Getting Filled With Nasty Thoughts. Because we’re relying on video chats and text-based messages while working remotely, there is plenty of room for misinterpretation and negative assumptions. This would still happen if you were working in the office but you would be able to deal with it faster face-to-face. However, due to the distance between us working from home, and our inability to truly read people via Zoom, these negative feelings towards our coworkers only fester and grow.
How do we fix it? With better bosses. The experts agree that trust comes from the top down. Research shows managers who show employees support and appreciation foster more trust and are more trusted themselves. Just don’t go overboard with it bosses because you could easily start over monitoring, which only makes employees paranoid.
HT: BBC