How To Ease Anxiety In A Hybrid Workplace

If there is one thing on workers minds – especially leaders it is how to ease anxiety in a hybrid workplace.

Most companies planning a back to work structure for their workers beginning in October 2021.

The hybrid model we are seeing as being most common right now is a ‘flexible workplace’ approach.

The flexible workplace approach is set up so that workers must be in office for 2 -3 days a week with all workers in on one of those 2 to 3 days. the remaining 2 days are available for remote work.

In addition some workers are choosing to work full time in office while other workers are seeking to work full time remote.

There is no question that it is a highly anxious time for most workers. Some workers who are not client facing and whose work can be done from anywhere are questioning the in office request.

Other client facing workers who have been in office throughout the pandemic can be judgemental or dismissive of remote workers.

The increase in anxiety among all workers is very personal. If a worker has a pre existing health concern and they are asked to come back to in office it is causing that worker to question the safety of his or her workplace.

We have been hearing anecdotal stories from leaders and workers of some workers reconsidering their jobs and seeking to find work that aligns with their personal well being, aligns with their family commitments and is fulfilling.

You may have heard of the ‘great resignation’ where Millenials and Gen Xers are outright leaving their current jobs and either freelancing, starting their own business or choosing to work where they can be remote full time.

There is one approach on how to ease anxiety in a hybrid workplace that is the solution.

However be warned, that not every leader or worker is going to find this solution easy to do.

The solution is: compassion.

In high stress situations humans behave from their primitive brain (unless he or she has developed the ability to observe their reactions and develop their self awareness). Meditation and nature walks are two ways to help calm the primitive brain reactions.

When in new or changing conditions the human reaction is to either ‘freeze’ or ‘fight’ or ‘flight’.

Depending on a person’s personality a person has an ingrained response to stress.

When an individual responds with the ‘freeze’ reaction he or she literally looks like a deer in headlights, cannot respond to basic requests, will avoid dealing with challenging people or challenging situations.

When an individual responds with a ‘fight’ reaction he or she fights back in an aggressive way which can be to be brusque, sarcastic, impatient, judgemental and dismissive of people. Often the person who ‘fights’ is trying to exert some control over the situation or the person that they perceive is causing them anxiety.

When an individual responds with a ‘flight’ reaction he or she literally ghosts people or situations. Often the stress of the situation or person they perceive to be causing them anxiety is simply avoided. This is where people may not show up for work, may not respond to contact requests and may accept a job but then not show up the day they are supposed to start.

Being a stress fee and successful leader in a hybrid workplace requires leaders who can navigate the varying responses to stress and change. By exercising your compassion muscle you can build resiliency for yourself as a leader and at the same time feel build greater trust and commitment from your team.

I am not talking about compassion as a concept as in we all need to be more understanding of other people.

I am talking about compassion in action.

Compassionate crucial conversations

Compassionate coach approach

If there is one hangover we have all experienced since the pandemic its that we long for people to be ‘real’.

Workers want leaders who can see when they are anxious or struggling and who are willing to talk about challenges and to show empathy and support.

Workers want leaders who can coach solutions and who can offer support and resources to help workers through their challenges.

In order to be truly compassionate leaders and ALL workers need to build their ability to see things from other perspectives. In addition to seeing things from others point of view compassion is then asking how people are doing and talk through the options for support.

Recently I was conducting a virtual group coach call and the sales team was very frustrated with their operations team. Sales team is in office and client facing – operations team has been working and are still working remotely.

The first thing we discussed was the frustrations – we literally created the space for the ‘venting’ process. Rather than cut the venting process short or to move on to solutions right away we let the venting peter out on its own. Once everyone was heard and validated with empathy that their challenges were difficult, that yes there are things that are frustrating then we went on to talk about how it is to look at the situation from operations perspective.

By the end of the group coach call one of the sales team members said, “So what I am hearing is that we all have to have more compassion”.

One way to help build compassion is to focus more on what we have in common with others rather than focus on what drives us crazy.

For those leaders and workers who feel that they do not have time to ‘talk through’ stuff, or that workers should just toughen up I can promise you that in today’s workers market you will lose your good people.

So there is no question that we are in challenging times – my prediction is that the next few months will be a huge learning for leaders on how to create the most suitable hybrid workplace set up for their unique situations. I also predict that by January 2022 as a result of the learnings of the next few months there will be a greater focus on supporting people, coaching with a deeper understanding of the ‘humanness’ of our workers and ultimately benefit the overall company by focusing on ‘people first’.