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The New Office Politics? An “Existential Crisis” for Some
Article

The New Office Politics? An “Existential Crisis” for Some

Whether you’re trying to manage your team or impress your boss, a “hybrid” work environment promises one thing: It’s gonna be complicated.

Richard Morgan
Morning Brew, 2021
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More than a year of working from home has fundamentally altered the workplace, making a return to pre-pandemic office life unlikely. The most commonly touted new arrangement is the location-flexible hybrid work model. Yet writer Richard Morgan cautions employers not to underestimate the challenge of managing team members working in two very different environments. After talking to both work-from-home enthusiasts and critics, he concludes that hybrid work may not be the panacea you’d hoped for.

Summary

The hybrid workplace will be difficult to manage.

The hybrid work environment poses a bigger challenge to employers than either the pre-pandemic in-office setting or pandemic-era work from home. Staff working on-site and online interact with each other on two different planes. Office workers, surrounded by physical distractions, may not be able to work at the same speed as online workers who can focus exclusively on digital activity. Remote workers, meanwhile, may feel disadvantaged for missing out on informal office talk.

Leaders face the challenge of bridging growing divisions among team members and keeping up a corporate culture that does justice to both ways of...

About the Author

Richard Morgan writes for the website Morning Brew. 

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