Home Office: emotional isolation?
Published by the 7 of January of 2021 en Business environment, Uncategorized
We are at the beginning of a new year and we are expecting to return to our old life before COVID19. However, all suggests that it will not happen in the short run. All activities have been affected again for the new wave of COVID19 and the new mutation of this virus.
Particularly, jobs will not return to what it used to be: Home Office will remain due to economic reasons more than pandemic. All companies, SMEs and all economic activities have been affected due to restrictions and high direct costs continue no matter if employees are in home office. If pandemic continues, all kind of business will have to decide whether to leave the offices and reduce costs to survive. Technology will facilitate this decision.
However, human beings are an important side of the equation. Since my own point of view, a trend has been questioned: all activities through virtual platforms, on line as a natural transition for human beings. Surprise! So many people did not like it!
“Humanization” of activities is taking place. Contact with other people is desperately the issue for too many people. We are not ready emotionally to live all through virtual platforms and on-line. We have realized that we really miss human interaction. As my good friend Humberto de la Vega did the las Christmas celebrations: “To take a break from technology!”
Under all that pressure, how to go on working in Home Office without emotional stress?
Visual communication is taking relevance to stop feeling isolated. We have to return to a basic principle of human beings where the power of paying attention to the other with your eyes can radically change the environment and the way he/she feels. It is so common that when people is talking, most of the time is looking at technological devices and just listening. So, from now on when you talk to somebody, look at the eyes of that person to make a real connection, no matter what kind of conversation you are in. The way you communicate with your team, family o with other people will change a lot. Make this visual contact in your virtual meetings and it will also change.