Something we’ve been hearing in a lot of conversations lately is “I can’t wait to get back to the office.”

Even on a reduced schedule, people are eager to return to the office where they can see and interact with their co-workers and clients more naturally than they can through a forced string of endless links to Zoom calls.

But Zoom fatigue isn’t the only reason people are eager to get back to the office. 

There are growing concerns about the impact of working from home on training, coaching, and mentoring.

In a recent survey conducted by Doodle, 41% of the respondents said their career development has stalled during the pandemic. Nearly half (49%) of employees said they aren’t getting enough training, coaching and mentoring to advance their careers in these uncertain times.

Senior executives are worried about the impact on their organization. One of their biggest fears is that their people won’t be able to perform their job to the best of their ability and they’ll feel unfulfilled. This can lead to lower production and higher employee turnover, both of which are very expensive.

Employees and company leadership alike are realizing that the work-from-home environment has big barriers to delivering and receiving the training, mentoring and coaching that normally takes place at work. 

Almost half (47%) of the respondents said they don’t have access to their manager’s calendar in case they need to schedule a quick touch base with them, which keeps managers walled off and inaccessible. On top of this, only 18 percent of the respondents said their boss schedules weekly one-to-one meetings over video with them.

Until we can get back into the office and get mentoring and training back on track, here are some practical tips to incorporate it into work-from-home life:

• Set up a recurring meeting to connect with your boss/mentor/direct report/mentee at least once a week
• Use video when possible so that you can actually “see” how the other person is doing
• Email is helpful for moving tasks along, but it doesn’t replace the need for “face-to-face” interactions to cultivate a successful relationship
• Have a communication method in place to be able to connect quickly if a question needs to be answered in real-time
• Don’t just make your conversations all about work; talk about life in general as you would if you were grabbing lunch or saw each other in a common area at the office

Is your building ready for people who are eager to return to the office? 

We encourage you to tackle any carpentry, interior drywall, painting, carpeting, lighting, and plumbing projects now as well as continue the regular repair and maintenance protocols to keep your building in optimum condition.

If you need help, contact us. You can email us at info@stradarealestate.com or give us a call at 630-325-9301. 

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