Ryan V.

The pandemic normalised remote working, and despite the fears of most organisations, there was no demonstrable loss of productivity.

Now, the global workforce wants to retain increased flexibility as societies open up again. Yet, many organisations are resisting this more flexible future. They argue that employees' wellbeing is compromised by remote working, for example, Zoom fatigue.

Many young people working in the corporate sector have innovative, big ideas that can bring substantial change in their organizations and even in the world. The barriers they come across are equally large.

An entry-level employee had limited connections and leverage, unable to make any big decisions. Those having power and status in the organization have their own beliefs and assumptions, apart from the usual arrogance of position. Often these powerful people are causing roadblocks.

To get over this challenge, we need to work with those in power, making them listen and believe in us.

Personal competence:

• Self-Awareness: perceive your emotions and stay aware of them as they happen.
• Self-Management: use awareness of your emotions to stay flexible and positively direct your behavior.

Social competence:

• Social Awareness: pick up on emotions in other people and understand what is really going on.
• Relationship Management: use awareness of your emotions and the others’ emotions to manage interactions successfully.

• It is inevitable to disagree with colleagues, bosses and coworkers at work.
• People deploy varied techniques and styles when they clash with their work colleagues, but there are no guidelines on how we work through the conflict.
• It also depends on if we are trying to ensure that the relationship isn’t damaged, or just focused on getting the result.
• It is all about priorities, and being successful in hustling with others can lead to success at the cost of being alienated by others and losses in the long term.

Individuals show a tendency to speak more than to listen. Therefore, the art of listening seems to be in some sort of delay when compared to the one of speaking. However, both of them are essential in order to ensure a healthy communication.

In order to make a holiday event inclusive for everyone, companies can come up with ways to celebrate and have fun together.

• They could set a clear expectation that for the first half-hour, employees will talk about their greatest accomplishments from the year and what they want to bring into the new year.
• Turning on the camera could be made mandatory.
• Come prepared with conversation starters like, "What's your plan for the holiday?"
• An instant messaging platform like Slack can be used for people to discuss their interests outside work.
• Companies can give a budget to employees who live in the same location to throw their own local holiday party.
• Those who don't have other colleagues close can create their own party open to anyone working remotely. They can unite around the idea of remote work.

Workers crave a sense of authentic connection with others and the best way to do that is by bringing people together in person. But it's not always a viable alternative.

One way to do that is to try to give everyone the same day off, give people a “theme” for an activity of their choosing on that day, and find a way for the team to share their adventures. This could be during a team call or a shared photo library.

Many stories have a lone person, who is unknown but eventually becomes a hero due to his years of toiling and getting success. We like to think of this ‘heroic’ feat as something done exclusively by the hero.

The role of the team, the other people that are not in the frame is often overlooked. Any important achievement cannot be done alone, and if we look closely, a person is a product of the education system, society, environment, luck, the internet and a lot more.

Due to the stress accumulation, many team members and managers vent out in their daily team meetings. Whether it’s work problems, family struggle, or mental health, they find it therapeutic to unload it to others.

This kind of venting, however, can be stressful for others, especially if they are being forced to listen. Negative ranting wears down the listener and uses up the emotional bandwidth, making them anxious.

Physical presence does play a large part in moving our projects forward. Managing a project remotely requires a diligent and transparent approach to keep track and maintain the various tasks, deadlines and processes.

It's important to deploy a project management tool, assigning each different task to all the team members. Have regular check-ins and status update meetings. Having a singular place for distributing information ensures that team members do not complain that they were not updated or didn’t know where the specific file was.