In a disrupted world, we’ve lost the signposts and expectations on working norms. Organisations need to provide more structure to flexible working.

Earlier this month, I learned something interesting about every person in my team at work. One was related to Che Guevara, another was a former cast member at Disney, and one could still do the splits.

These personal insights resulted from an ‘icebreaker’ session to open the first physical team meeting we’ve had in over two years. In fact, it was our first ever physical team meeting; the team forming only two years ago.

Lack of bonding with co-workers has been costly

Research has shown that work friendships increase employee engagement, which is associated with both happiness and productivity for workers. The move to remote working for many people during the pandemic has brought benefits, but also come at a cost. One of those costs is the lack of bonding with co-workers, lowering the true value of work for millions. Organisations recognise this.

Much has already been written about ‘The Great Resignation’, or its evolution by some into the more positively framed ‘The Great Reset.’

What we know from research is that a significant proportion of employees worldwide are thinking of leaving their current jobs. As high as 41% according to the Microsoft Work Trend Index. Many already have. The top reason given is a deterioration in work-life balance (34%).

Companies are struggling to get people back into offices 

Now, as organisations call for people to embrace a mix of working from home and working from the office, in order to realise the benefits of both, we enter flexible or hybrid working.

But there’s two problems here:

1. Companies are struggling to get people back into offices, meaning co-workers are missing out on critical bonding with colleagues

2. Employees are struggling to have a work-life balance because the rules of working have become distorted.

It’s a paradox that more flexibility requires more structure.

Too much flexibility creates confusion and a fear of missing out

Flexibility with work hours and location is a positive change. But too much flexibility creates confusion and a fear of missing out in the office, especially for younger people or new joiners who crave building relationships to help them succeed in their role.

37% of people overall and 53% of Gen Z workers say they don’t have a clear start time or finish time to their workday according to the Anatomy of Work Global Index Study. This leads to the blurring of lines between ‘work time’ and ‘personal time’ and can be a cause of burnout.

Added to this is the incessant ping of multiple communication channels and tools, all demanding constant attention and reaction. As I’ve written about before, this creates productivity poison in the form of context-shifting, where we jump from one task to the other, resulting in an overall drop in quality and an increase in anxiety.

More clarity and structure is required to help people succeed in a flexible world

In a disrupted world, employees have lost the signposts and expectations on working norms. Organisations need to step in and provide this structure and clarity, helping their employees get the best from both remote and office working, as well as giving them the tools—and approval—to better separate their professional and personal lives.

Despite what we’ve been told, productivity isn’t personal. It’s systematic and organisations should address this collectively, empowering their leaders to have these conversations and set the example themselves.

Below, I lay out five solutions to help navigate a flexible working world.

1. Adopt fixed hours scheduling

Choose a schedule of work hours you think provides the ideal balance of effort and relaxation. And do whatever it takes to stick to this schedule. There will always be something that wants your attention. You need to put a stake in the ground. If you don’t, it will force you into tiring, inefficient schedules.

Adopting the Always Be Working (ABW) attitude as a status symbol is not a proxy for achievement. Rather, it’s likely to harm your long-term chances of success and happiness. Instead, it’s the quality of hours and the accomplishments that count. So fix the schedule you want. Then make everything else fit around your needs. Be flexible. Be efficient.

2. Make sure you have a shutdown routine

Having a shutdown routine gives your day closure. You need to draw a line every day so you can be fresh for the next day and at your cognitive best. Shutdown routines only take a few minutes and ideally should be the same time each day, for example, 6pm.

My routine involves a quick review of my open tasks, making sure I have nothing urgent outstanding, before logging off my laptop and all messenger tools. I do not log back on to look at email that evening. There are times, of course, when I choose to be on a later call or need to complete something important, but these are exceptions.

3. Implement a Time Management System

Central to the success of #1 and #2 is a time management system. This is a game-changer.

There are three components:

• Capture—get all your ideas, tasks and commitments out of your head and into a trusted system. I use a physical notebook and a simple .txt file on my laptop for digital notes.

• Configure—organise and consolidate all this information. Here I used Trello and its excellent Kanban-style boards to organise all my tasks, and a Word document for overall plans.

• Control—be proactive with your time and not reactive. I have a daily, weekly, and quarterly plan. I also time-block my day, every day. Take a look at Cal Newport’s Time-Block Planner to get a better idea.

These three solutions enable you to make smart decisions about what you do with your professional time every day. They also give you a better understanding of your time. Far from making your day more rigid, you’ll find you’re more creative, more productive, less stressed and able to take more breaks. Every leader should promote them and use them.

4. Leaders should set weekly schedules and physical time in the office

Leaders should get more intentional about time in the office. Set a weekly schedule for your teams that clearly defines focused time to work at home and collaborative time to work in the office on shared projects—and lead by example by following the same practices. Don’t mandate this. Explain the benefits and get the collective buy-in before setting any schedule.

Leaders can also set aside Office Hours each week when their teams can approach for open Q&A—physical or virtual. These should be consistent, for example, Wednesday afternoons, 2-4pm. This works best for coordination activities that are both frequent but not urgent.

5. Leaders should set expectations around communication channels and tools

Leaders should provide guidance on which tools to use and how to use them. Set clear expectations on response times, helping remove the culture of instant replies for non-urgent tasks, which harms productivity due to context-shifting.

Reinforce the acceptability of switching off tools like Microsoft Teams or Slack when your teams are working on cognitively demanding activities. And lead by example. If you don’t want your teams’ sending emails on weekend, don’t send them yourself. Be respectful of people’s personal commitments and time zones.   

A more deliberate approach, built on education, structure and buy-in

At the heart of these solutions lies a more deliberate approach, built on education, structure and buy-in. Some will require careful implementation, especially for those organisations and people that work across a myriad of cultures and time zones.

But show people the benefits and make them part of the decision-making process. Ultimately, you want to help connect their daily work to the overarching purpose of the organisation, so they can see their contribution and feel fulfilled and happy.

Work can be a deeply enriching component of a life well lived. As the flexible working world is here to stay, organisations need to take the lead on setting clear expectations on working norms for our new ways of working. Starting today.