Five years after CovidWorking from home
Back to the office to socialise
Door Christien Boomsma
By Christien Boomsma
Christien Boomsma
The Covid pandemic is well behind us, life is returning to its normal course. But has the virus had any lasting effects on the university, and if so, what kind of effects? What, if anything, has improved, and what things will never return to the way they were? In a series of articles, UKrant looks into how the pandemic affected education, student association life, and our social behaviour, among others.
Eva Teuling really only works from home one day a week. ‘It’s much easier to quickly switch and discuss something if I physically see my colleagues’, says the Science LinX project manager.
Sometimes, it’s just more practical. It’s much easier to bike home after a meeting in the city centre than to have to go all the way back to Zernike. It’s also great for people who aren’t physically fit, or whose kids are sick.
In other words, people enjoy working from home, especially because of the flexibility it offers.
But not everyone feels that way, she says. ‘I’ve noticed that a lot of meetings are planned on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays, so you’re running from meeting to meeting all day, because everyone is working from home on Wednesday and Friday. The building is basically empty on those days.’
Normalised
Five years after the Covid pandemic arrived in the Netherlands and the university shut down, working from home has become commonplace. The UG had always been flexible; many researchers worked from home and the university offices had obviously been designed to offer maximal flexibility to its employees.
You’re running from meeting to meeting on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays
But quite a lot has changed since working from home became mandatory. While people don’t necessarily have the right to work from home, it’s certainly become normalised. After a chaotic start with people working at their kitchen table with slow Wi-Fi and crappy screens, many things have improved.
These days, employees can claim expenses for a proper computer screen and a decent desk chair. There’s an arrangement that gives workers 500 euros to buy a laptop to use at home. They’re also remunerated for their internet costs: 2 euros a day and a flat fee of 25 euros a month.
Of the 5,980 employees at the UG, no fewer than 3,838 said they work from home one or more days a week. Unfortunately, there are no numbers from before the Covid pandemic, since the phenomenon has only been tracked since the introduction of AFAS in 2020. Most of them work from home on Wednesday and Fridays – 37.7 and 45.8 percent respectively. Most employees go to work on a Tuesday. Only 27.1 percent stays home on that day. ‘It’s become much more normalised’, says UG spokesperson Elies Wempe-Houwenhoven. ‘There’s been a cultural shift.’
Benefits
It’s a good thing, says Eleni Giannakoudi, a PhD who’s studying hybrid work at the UG. According to her, working from home seriously benefits employees. ‘The more you’re allowed to work remotely, the more people tend to feel like they can choose what is best for them. It gives them this feeling of autonomy.’
As a result, employees are happier with their work and feel more closely connected to the organisation they work for. ‘They tend to perceive that their organisation is supporting them and trusting them’, says Giannakoudi. ‘And they are less likely to leave the organisation.’
‘Before Covid, I worked from home one day a week’, confirms assistant professor of American studies Jelte Olthof ‘Now, it’s two days.’
He remembers the chaos from the start of the pandemic well. He’d just joined the exam committee and it was working overtime. So there he was, at home with three children, the youngest of which was only a year old. ‘I can’t say I enjoyed that time very much.’
These days, his kids are all in school, which means he can focus at home and make sure he finishes tasks. ‘It’s much more crowded at the faculty. People are always coming into my office.’
Productive
This goes for Giannakoudi, as well. ‘When I really have to focus, home is the best place to do that’, she says. ‘And when I have other tasks, I find myself gravitating more to going to the office.’ She’ll usually pick a day when most of her colleagues are in the office as well, so she can catch up and exchange ideas.
People who are allowed to work remotely feel trusted by their organisation
The fear that people would be less productive working from home by doing laundry or other things that have nothing to do with work turned out to be unfounded. ‘No detrimental effects of hybrid work on individual productivity were found’, says Giannakoudi. ‘We might want to consider what metrics we are using. Is it about the hours you work, or the output you produce? What one person does in eight hours, another might do in four. But does that really make a difference?’ she says.
And so the office has undergone a change: it used to be a place where people were obligated to be, but now it’s a place where they want to be, in part to stay in contact with their team members.
Less visible
Nevertheless, the UG hasn’t decided to do away with office space altogether – at least not for the people who don’t have a public-facing job or who need to be physically present at the university for other reasons. People aren’t allowed to work from home for more than 40 percent of their hours. ‘That’s actually based on research’, says Giannakoudi. ‘Some of the positives for working from home turn to negative with very frequent remote work. 40 percent is the sweet spot: not too much, not too little.’
That’s because there actually are some drawbacks. At home, people tend to work more hours than at the office. They don’t have to travel, don’t drink coffee before starting work, and aren’t getting distracted by questions from their colleagues, which means they tend to spend more time at their computer. That can lead to health problems like RSI or burnout.
Employees are also less visible to their managers. ‘There are also some – inconclusive – findings that it might hinder career progression and professional development’, says Giannakoudi.
But the biggest drawback is that people run the risk of becoming isolated. ‘Fewer spontaneous connections with colleagues may make people feel more lonely and excluded.’
Shaking hands
Associate professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business Derk Jan Heslinga recognises this. As soon as the Covid restrictions allowed, he went back to the faculty. But not all his colleagues felt the same. ‘It’s my impression that people work from home a lot more than they used to’, he says. ‘I’ve noticed a lot of closed doors at the faculty.’
There’s the occasional social event, but they’re too few and far between
While the rule is that people are only allowed to work from home for two days a week, nobody is checking that. ‘Besides, if I work from home two days a week and my coworker does so two other days in the week, we’ll barely see each other, since we’re also busy teaching.’
He feels that something was lost. Spontaneous meetings, shaking hands, quick little favours: ‘none of that really happens when you’re only online.’
As a result, people tend to isolate and do their own thing. Especially because his group has no mutual agreement to stay in touch. ‘There’s the occasional social event or department meeting, but they’re too few and far between.’
Anchor days
Studium Generale was also at risk of splintering, says programme manager Annelies Noordhof. So, in addition to the monthly team lunch, they decided on a few set days for the team to meet up and inspire each other. ‘We do so every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. That leaves everyone with one day to work from home. It’s been a valuable system for us.’
Noordhof also says that whenever her work requires her to focus, she does it at home. She also takes important phone calls at home so as to not disturb her colleagues. She thinks the post-Covid work-from-home set-up is a good thing. ‘As long as you make sure to have those communal moments. The chats, spontaneous meet-ups, and meetings.’
Giannakoudi is particularly interested in those kinds of solutions – anchor days, lunches, and team-time meet-ups. No one yet knows which works best; the solutions are still in their infancy.
But there’s one thing she’d like to tell people: ‘Solutions for how to balance working remotely and having days where the team meets should be discussed and decided on with the team.’ Forcing people to come back to the office only for them to wear headphones all the time or shut their door isn’t much of a solution, either. ‘It’s really important that there are regular moments where the team meets, but it’s a fine balance.’
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