Remote work eliminated any chance encounters and in passing conversations with our teammates. With only cold assignment emails breaking long hours of dead air, remote workers are missing the reassurance of their social standing.
That’s the central topic of a New York Times article. When isolated, imagination can exaggerate a banal, harmless text into a summary of your performance and employee health. The anxiety is fuelled by constant restructures, layoffs, and losses amid the pandemic.
There’s no rulebook to decipher exactly what your supervisors meant when they didn’t include you on the last project meeting. There are no guidelines to follow when your coworkers are suddenly silent. There is only intuition and speculation, both are only as reliable as the internet connection.
Worse, while appropriate attire and presentation sufficed in the office era, some have taken to pass silent judgment on others’ home decor during meetings in the remote era. Room Rater, a Twitter account dedicated to passing advice on video call backgrounds, has over 374,000 followers. Thankfully, background replacement software alleviates some of the stress.
These troubles circle back to the call for clear coordinated communication, an emphasis that’s been tirelessly repeated yet seldomly heeded. While it sounds simple on paper, balancing adequate communication between employees is actually incredibly difficult. There’s just a fine line between appropriate and overcommunication.
The full article includes examples from professionals across a plethora of industries. We highly recommend giving it a read.