Adapting to change working from home

Embracing the winds of change: are the answers blowing in the wind?

The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus once said: “The only thing that is constant is change”.   And change is now on the cards for everyone, especially where the workplace is concerned.  Notwithstanding, an important point to bear in mind when everything that was once routine has been overturned, is that change often brings about the opportunity to explore new ways of doing things, paving the way for novel and sometimes better solutions.  The English Proverb:  Necessity is the mother of invention sums up the situation perfectly.  Covid-19 has overturned our routine on a global scale, creating a paradigm shift that leaves us reeling – yet, while change may seem as though a dark cloud is hanging over us there is a silver lining to all of this.  And as we encounter new challenges while embracing the winds of change, let us not allow ourselves to be at the mercy of the winds, but instead let us seek the answers that are blowing in the wind.  

As we move forward in a climate fraught with grand scale changes, let’s take a moment to reflect on where this leaves us. 

No more ‘Radio Ga Ga’ during the New Drive Time

Whether you are a business owner or working for a large organization, driving into work in the mornings used to be a time when, while sitting in the traffic and listening to drive-time radio shows, you took the opportunity to contemplate how you were going to go about tackling the tasks and challenges of the day ahead.  This was a time to reflect, a time to plan and a time to perhaps meditate a little and relax the mind before hitting the grindstone at full force. 

Adapting to change

Human beings are known for being creatures of habit and routine. It can take approximately 20 years or even more to grow our adult personalities.  During this time, we form habits and behaviours that will remain with us for a lifetime.  But, changing habits and behaviours does not happen overnight.  If it takes 20 or so years to learn something it can take time to undo some of this work and adjust to new routines. Bear this in mind as you are on your way to work each morning, as you walk down the passageway from your bedroom into the dining room where you have set up your new ‘home office’.  It is not so much that there is a problem here, it’s just that you are in a different space while at work and this can take some time to get used to. 

We could discuss the number of changes affecting the world of work since Covid-19 reared its head ad nauseum.  However, to produce another laundry list of these changes is like flogging a dead horse.  By now, most of us have become acutely aware that the world of work will never be the same again, at least for the foreseeable future.  Hence, for the purpose of this discussion, we will not focus so much on the changes themselves, but, rather, how we will adapt to these changes. 

So, the example of one of the new workplace ‘normals’ that we will use to illustrate how we deal with change is the practise of ‘working from home’ (WFH).  Let’s take a look at the WFH landscape among salaried, white collar workers as it currently stands for some of the European countries.  A recent survey conducted by CASS Business School, IESE Business School and HR Service Provider SD Worx reveals some interesting WFH trends.  As the table below suggests, the WFH trend has seemingly strongly embedded itself.

Country                                  Percentage of the workforce working from home

UK                                            65%

Belgium                                  62%

Spain                                      60%

France                                    59%

The Netherlands                   55%

Germany                                 40%

It’s not that working from home in itself is the problem here, shifting one’s mindset to accept that this is part of the ‘new normal’ is where the real issue lies.  For most people, change is frightening and most often extremely difficult to handle.  Being able to forego familiar routines in favour of the unfamiliar is challenging since humans tend to avoid fear and fearful situations at all costs.  So, think about this as you listen to the radio while you work. 

How long does it take to form new habits or routines?

In a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, Phillippa Lally, a health psychology researcher at University College in London along with her research team, investigated just exactly how long it takes to form a new habit.  The study surveyed the habits of 96 people over a period of 12 weeks.  Each person participating in the study chose one new habit for the 12-week period and was given the task of reporting daily as to whether they performed the task and when they did, how ‘automatic’ this new behaviour felt to them. 

Certain individuals chose simple habits such as drinking a bottle of water with lunch, while others opted for more arduous habits such as running for 15 minutes before dinner.  The researchers analysed the data at the end of the 12-week period with the purpose of determining how long it took each individual to move from starting a new habit to performing this new habit automatically.

The verdict

The study reveals that, on average, it takes over 2 months, in fact, 66 days to be exact, for someone to automatically form a new habit.  However, this is merely the benchmark.  Since, the length of time it takes to form a new habit can vary substantially, and largely depends on the individual concerned, the type of behaviour and the circumstances involved.  Hence, the study in question actual reveals that it can take anywhere between 18 and 254 days for an individual to form a new habit.  Realistically, if you need to put a timeline in place, the verdict stands at anything from 2 to 8 months before the new habit is built into the person’s routine. 

Does time heal all wounds?

There remains no doubt that Covid-19 has inflicted a number of serious wounds upon the world at large and that it will take time for us to absorb the impact created by the pandemic itself not to mention the domino effect that this has had on global health, the global economy and the workforce; and humanity at large.  Yet, if Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy’s quote:  “It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds’” holds any truth at all, it will take a significant length of time for the world to deal with the changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The way forward

So, what does this all mean for business?  Whether you are a cog in the wheel of a large organization, or you manage a business with a team of 10 people, the impact of change is the same.  Human beings need time to digest the magnitude of the changes we are currently experiencing on a worldwide scale.  This means that over and above the nitty gritty of it all, we need time and a triple dose of patience in dealing with ourselves, our businesses, our habits and our need for security and hope for the future and success will come when we learn to successfully deal with change. 

Reference sources:  Psychcentral.com, Jamesclear.com

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