Before COVID-19 hit, the existing research on home-working by choice suggested it brought a lot of positive outcomes. However, many of us have been forced to home-work since March 2020 and it is unclear how long this may continue.
Professor Kevin Daniels and Dr Helen Fitzhugh of the University of East Anglia carried out a review of existing research on professionals who routinely work in isolated and confined conditions, to see what we could all learn from their experiences. There are a number of potential problems (see illustration).
Luckily, the research also highlighted ways for managers and organisations to mitigate and / or avoid those problems through reflection, planning and action on:
- ensuring appropriate physical (housing, equipment) and organisational (policies, inductions, HR support) working conditions
- providing supportive management (supervision, debriefing, performance feedback, back up with specialist knowledge)
- offering opportunities to encounter new people and knowledge (networking, continuing professional development).
The full blog can be found here: https://whatworkswellbeing.org/blog/working-in-isolated-and-confined-conditions-long-term-the-potential-risks-and-how-to-avoid-them/