Technology that makes remote work easier also brings big risks to work relationships

"Remote-work technologies are great tools -- but are they reshaping work relationships in unexpected ways? Lebene Soga thinks so.

Trained as a pharmacist in his native Ghana, Dr. Soga noticed while a manager at a pharmaceutical plant that the machinery was shaping people's work. Now director of the international management and business administration program at Britain's University of Reading, he studies remote work from the same point of view.

"I tend to look at the unintended consequences of things," he says.

Dr. Soga and colleagues analyzed how managers and staff interacted virtually at a Fortune 500 company, where they focused on nearly 1,200 staff members and interviewed 64 managers. Their research, conducted before and during the pandemic, found that managers see technologies such as Zoom and Slack as just a means for working together, when in fact these "tools" change the relationship between all parties using them.

The researchers described their findings in the MIT Sloan Management Review, and Dr. Soga elaborated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal held -- naturally -- via Zoom. Edited excerpts follow.

WSJ: How do remote-work tools such as Zoom change the nature of work relationships?

DR. SOGA: These technologies allow colleagues to see each other even if they are miles away. But do they really give us the opportunity of seeing each other? Or do they offer us an illusion? It is more of the latter.

Work relationships built solely on the intermediation of some video communication platform begin with what's called ritual sniffing, where people cautiously check one another out and try to put their best foot forward. Sometimes, such relationships don't get any deeper over time. The relationship becomes inauthentic and doesn't augur well for a great organizational culture. Entirely remote work is rarely the best option for all parties.

WSJ: These technologies have helped many of us continue working during the pandemic, but your research found potential downsides. What are they?

DR. SOGA: Virtual, tech-mediated collaboration provides many benefits to employees and managers, but it comes with four big risks: isolation, exclusion, surveillance and self-censorship.

WSJ: Working remotely can obviously be isolating for workers. But what about managers?

DR. SOGA: I have spoken to managers who suddenly realized that they have become distant from those they are supposed to be leading. They have become isolated from their teams because they begin to use these collaborative technologies as mere transmission devices for conveying messages.

WSJ: Remote workers are left out of impromptu exchanges, or can succumb to out-of-sight, out-of-mind syndrome. Which workers are most susceptible to exclusion?

DR. SOGA: Many older workers are quite tech-savvy, but they are all by definition digital immigrants, coming from a very different world, and this can subtly exclude them -- sometimes as a result of stereotyping by others. Some workers don't have suitable space at home for remote work, or have problems with connectivity or child care. Employees are excluded when their technology environment limits them in some form.

Some employees we spoke to were particularly worried about showing their room's background in video calls. We probed a bit more as to why they couldn't use the various in-built backgrounds. We were startled when one said, "These background filters are artificial, and they are an implicit admission to the world that you have an inappropriate background that shouldn't be seen by others. As a result, turning the video off altogether gives me better confidence to speak." Unfortunately, those who aren't visible are inadvertently considered as not being available or participatory enough. In fact, we had managers really not pleased that people show them blank screens. Consequently, managers turn more often to those who they believe are readily available, thus creating in-groups of those who are relied upon, while others are left out of the charmed circle.

WSJ: Why is surveillance a problem? Haven't managers always kept an eye on workers, especially when they were in the same place?

DR. SOGA: Surveillance is often the evil twin of transparency. And while the goal of transparency is to ensure trust, that is exactly what surveillance undermines. It isn't only managers who have surveillance ability, but employees, as well. These collaborative technologies can tell everyone who is present or who is absent, who is available or who is pretending to be available and so on. Employees are able to monitor or check on their peers -- known as lateral surveillance -- or check on their managers -- known as bottom-up surveillance.

One individual said, "My manager was showing as offline, but she typed into the group only a few minutes ago, and I wonder who she was deceiving that she was offline? If she doesn't want to be disturbed, she could have simply asked people not to contact her today or something." The same sort of thing happens among peers, and I found that fascinating.

Employees also worry that their words remain on the platform forever. Individuals scared of having their errors memorialized don't participate and are thus left out.

These concerns -- that people are being tracked in various ways, that their words and body language might be recorded -- can lead to self-censorship.

WSJ: Haven't people always had to be careful about what they say at work?

DR. SOGA: Yes but in this case we have a situation in which employees lose their voice. Self-censorship is a consequence of the very nature of these collaborative technologies, which put you on the spot. Quite literally in a Zoom or a Teams meeting, the speaker is highlighted by the technology; on an internal communications platform, the message posted is out there for everyone to see.

WSJ: What can managers do, short of abolishing remote work, to overcome these shortcomings?

DR. SOGA: Remote work has its advantages, and we must appreciate that. What managers must seek to overcome is the psychological and managerial distance it generates. Humans are social beings, and we will flourish best at work if we inhabit our shared humanity there. We are the best form of ourselves in communityship, and this is what we must encourage in work relationships.

WSJ: Any suggestions for nurturing a sense of community?

 

DR. SOGA: Managers have to take deliberate actions to encourage voice in the organization. We find that seeking out employees for one-on-one conversation is a great way to do that. Managers should go out of their way to arrange meetups, online or in person, for casual conversation about work and nonwork issues. And broadly speaking, the most important thing across the board with remote work is to find ways of fostering social connection. Something as simple as weekly lunches, in person or remotely, can bring managers and staff closer.

 

WSJ: So for most organizations, 100% remote forever is tough.

DR. SOGA: Absolutely. This is simply not sustainable for the internal climate an organization may want to build." [1]

1. C-Suite Strategies (A Special Report) --- The Hidden Costs of Remote Work: Technology that makes remote work easier also brings big risks to work relationships
Akst, Daniel.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 01 Nov 2021: R.4.