Don’t Revert to Old Norms When Returning to the Office

 Tue 18 May 2021
Don’t Revert to Old Norms When Returning to the Office
If you work in a place where pandemic restrictions are easing up, and you’re headed back to the office, it may be tempting to get back to “business as usual.” But this is the perfect opportunity to reflect on how you want your team to operate differently going forward. Which new practices do you want to keep? Which ones do you want to let go?

 Start by identifying which new practices were successful, why they were successful, and under which circumstances they’ll continue to be useful. You can do this by surveying your employees to understand what they did differently during the crisis and then conduct follow-up discussions about what worked for them and what didn’t. 

 Next, help your team unlearn outdated practices. Maybe in-person meetings are no longer important to your organization, or the traditional 9-to-5 workday doesn’t need to be the team-wide standard. Communicate clearly that your expeMost people will instinctively revert to old routines so, finally, reinforce the new practices and procedures ctations as a manager have changed. until they turn into habits.
This tip is adapted from “Resist Old Routines When Returning to the Office,” by Vijay Govindarajan et al.a