Hanging in There

Stress & the brain

The pandemic era has been incredibly turbulent, and this helps to explain why many employees are struggling. The human brain requires much more energy to process new experiences because the brain works on a prediction loop. If an experience is familiar, the brain can predict the outcome and people fall into their usual patterns of behavior rather than having to find new approaches. However, as with any animal, humans have evolved to avoid unnecessary risk. In unfamiliar situations the brain will want to weigh all possible approaches to find the best – or least risky – option. Everything takes longer as the brain processes and filters through far more new information. Falling into a routine allows the brain to skip this process so it does not require so much energy to function. After a long period of living and working with so many unknowns, many do not have the energy left to be creative or go the extra mile in their work.

It would be understandable to assume that after about a year of working from home people would have formed a routine that allows them to bypass this mental blockage. But for many, the longer the pandemic goes on the more difficult it feels. At first, many thought these changes would last a few weeks or a couple of months at worst. They went the extra mile and worked longer hours, wanting to show they could work just as effectively from home. But, as time went on, things became less predictable, not more. Fatigue crept in without any sign of the strain letting up. While a vacation, or even a weekend getaway, would have been ideal to refresh, it was no longer possible to physically get away from work or the working environment when everything is done at home.

Good leadership recognizes these challenges and works with them rather than ignoring them. People can fall into maladaptive cycles of behavior. Workers who are finding it difficult to focus or perform can grow increasingly anxious and beat themselves up about it which, in turn, will make it more difficult for them to focus. Employers need to be familiar with these processes in order to work around them. By understanding the science behind the impact of this ever-changing situation on cognition, they can help employees identify what is causing difficulty and how to overcome it.

Defining factors

The research into the field has identified several factors that impact team performance during such times. Wellbeing is at the core of boosting cognition. Lack of sleep and exercise, poor hydration and nutrition all have a negative impact. The environment also plays a role. Too many distractions can be very detrimental. When the brain is already under stress from a global pandemic, it is best to reduce any further stress, be that from lack of sleep or a hectic environment.

However, with everyone working from home, managers cannot control these factors in their team. At best, they can encourage everyone to look after themselves. AWA’s research has identified the factors that managers can influence. These are factors that strongly correlate with improved team performance. Social cohesion is one of these. The better team members know and like one another, the more they know each other as people, the more likely they are to share ideas and information and to trust each other and to collaborate effectively. This is the case in both virtual teams and when people are together in person, so it is worth actively building cohesion no matter the circumstances. While this may seem obvious, people do not always do the things they know to be beneficial, because they either forget or they prioritize tasks over relationships.

Putting it into practice

Organizations cannot keep working with the same approach they adopted when they thought the pandemic might last a few weeks. It is not about keeping their head down and surviving; they need to be proactive and actively plan for a different future. Smart employers will be using the crisis as an opportunity to find out what works and what does not, and the even smarter ones will apply that learning to their future work models.

Employees who have been working remotely have had time to recognize the pros and cons of working from home, and many will want to continue to work remotely a few days a week. But not everyone is self-aware, so encouraging people to actively consider what gives them their best day at work is certainly worth doing as a starting point. In the future, if people work in a hybrid model, they will collaborate virtually as well as in-person. If team members are working remotely on different days, they may almost never see one another in the office. When working this way, things can fall through the cracks. Social cohesion can easily be lost, and the regularity and quality of information sharing can suffer. Managers need to be experimenting and building strong systems now, so however people choose to work in the future, these aspects can be protected because they are built on strong foundations that do not rely on one method of operating.

Employers need to ensure their management teams are positioned to plan and support their team. The best way they can do so is by providing effective training. Organizations tend to promote people who are good at their job into management positions, assuming they will know how to manage others. If they are not prepared, new managers will either mirror the behavior of former managers or adjust in the only way they can, which usually involves keeping the team close in a mistaken belief that they will only perform if they are being watched. Keeping the team close is not always an option, and, more importantly, it is not an effective form of developing staff and getting the best from them.

Teams must share trust, align their priorities, and communicate effectively. These things become all the more critical when teams are working apart. Great managers support their team members by providing a safe place where all ideas are welcomed, people’s voices are heard, mistakes don’t result in a blame culture and the focus is on growth and development. That takes courage, role modelling and experience – and it is difficult when managers are already working under stress and duress away from their teams. Supporting managers to explore these aspects and find ways to deliver them effectively can be transformational. Teams can take on responsibility by being given autonomy and allowed to find their own way to achieve agreed-upon results or targets. Without such an approach, not only will managers continue to try to micromanage (raising everyone’s stress levels), but the team’s potential will never be realized.

Moving forward

The pandemic will eventually come to an end. Management and workplace teams should be making changes now with that in mind. For many within the workforce, the past year has been a trigger to re-evaluate things. Priorities have changed, small freedoms are more appreciated, and how people interact in public spaces is different. The return to the workplace, when it comes, will be both welcome and stressful, and there may be residual effects of the pandemic, such as hygiene anxiety or a difficulty adjusting to working in a noisier, distracting environment, affecting the workforce for a long time to come. Work practices need to reflect the fact that stress and uncertainty will continue to have a hold through 2021. On the other hand, workers have demonstrated their capacity to work remotely and their dedication through times of high stress. Managers need to actively empower their staff to maintain that engagement and to give people a sense of meaning and control.

Managers can give teams a task or a target and let them find the best way to achieve it. Be supportive of creativity and create room for failure. Failure is the best way to learn and inspire new ideas. Keep communicating throughout the process and be realistic with expectations. Encourage openness and honesty. All of this will bring teams together, inspire them and empower them to build a strong, inclusive and innovative culture. Building and nurturing relationships is more difficult remotely, but it is also more important. While many are still working remotely, leadership has an opportunity for teams to come together despite the adversity, to develop skills and nurture innovation. Doing so now will form the foundation of even more skilled and resilient teams when the pandemic has passed.

Times of high stress can be an incredible trigger for growth and transformation. The skills that workers develop to see them through the challenges will be brought into the workplace. But this potential needs to be effectively directed, and that is where managers have a vital role. As organizations emerge into the "post-COVID-19 world,” it will become clear which have invested time and resources into their people throughout the pandemic. Those who have taken adversity as a chance to grow will lead the way in building back.