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Interview with a psychologist: Suddenly in the home office

At the kitchen table instead of the office: Many people work at home because of the corona virus. Organizational psychologist Jennifer Chatman explains how to switch to the home office.

tagesschau.de: How can companies best prepare their employees for the new situation and working in their home office?

Jennifer Chatman: Before you start thinking about logistics and technology, you need empathy. In the midst of all this uncertainty, companies and managers have to offer security.

For example, it is important to tell employees how much you value them. You should be honest and not say that everyone will be back at their place of work in a week or two. It’s about conveying security, with the hope that things will soon feel normal for everyone.

To person:

Jennifer Chatman is a professor of organizational psychology at the University of Berkeley in Northern California. She advises companies such as Apple, Ebay or Microsoft and supports teams in working more efficiently and successfully.


tagesschau.de: What else should companies consider when switching to their home office?

Chatman: If you are working in your home office for the first time, you cannot expect full performance and an eight-hour day from it. Especially not in the face of this crisis, in which so much is changing. People are distracted. Employers should take this into account first. Bosses should tell their employees: We are now doing what we can do.

Virtual exchange with colleagues

tagesschau.de: If you are working in your home office for the first time, you should feel pretty lonely at first. What can you do about it?

Chatman: The loneliness is real and you cannot escape it so easily. But today’s video chat software has become very good. For example, bosses can invite their team to a happy hour in video chat every Friday afternoon. Everyone can bring a glass to drink. People can talk about how to cope with the sudden change in their working lives, which many will certainly find scary and insecure. It is good if the initiation for such a video chat comes from the manager. I advise small groups of five or six participants, because then everyone can interact in the video chat.

tagesschau.de: How can I ensure a structure in everyday work in the home office?

Chatman: It starts with a quiet place of work within your own four walls, which should be functional. In everyday work, it is important to set deadlines and goals. This is very, very important because time flies at home pretty quickly. If you are working from home for the first time, you need a little discipline and planning to be able to work effectively.

Managers need trust in their employees

tagesschau.de: Such a crisis must be a nightmare for “micro-managers”? What to do if you have someone like that to be the boss?

Chatman: Organizations are much more efficient when individuals have internalized the company’s priorities without having to report to their manager every five minutes. For managers, this can be an opportunity to provide information and set priorities for the team: What should be achieved in the next three weeks, for example? In such situations, bosses should say: I am counting on you to find out how to do it best.

tagesschau.de: How do you prepare the other family members, children for example, to suddenly start working from home?

Chatman: My tip: do that beforehand. Create a work plan and discuss it with your family. If you have school-age children, they will probably also have online classes. You then need schedules and you may need to determine how much internet bandwidth is available to everyone. You have to think about how to divide the house or apartment so that everyone can do what they have to do. This requires a certain amount of planning. For example, which family member can work on the shared computer and when.

The conversation was going on Markus Schuler, ARD studio Los Angeles.

The ARD morning magazine reported on this topic on March 17, 2020 at 6:52 a.m.


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