Ask for a discussion on the crown: – Productivity is definitely declining in the home office – E24

E24 meets with CEO Per Ove Øyberg and CFO Aqsa Butt for a virtual 2020-style team meeting. Today’s topics include communication and the leadership style they are battling during a time marked by pandemics and offices in home.

Butt thinks they notice that communication has become more rigid in form, and informal dialogue has shrunk after several months with just digital interaction.

– The home office with video conferencing can be a nice addition, but it is not a substitute for physical meetings, he says.

Nemko is a Norwegian-owned group with more than 17 offices abroad, where they perform security testing and certification of electronic products.

To follow up on international activities during the pandemic, they have divided the group’s management into two teams, where one focuses on the operation and management of the pandemic providing exchange of experiences between continents, and the other focuses on further development. of the company.

Senior managers say extraordinary employee efforts and the ability to work digitally have resulted in the company rising 20 percent on the top line this year.

– I work with finances and therefore I am concerned about the financial consequences. There’s no question that productivity will drop in home offices and digital-only meetings if not properly organized, and here companies have been involved in participating in the bill for the charity event, Butt says.

Therefore, senior managers believe that headquarters is not here to stay.

– Also a challenge for leaders

– Recently, we have experienced that the home office is a challenge for everyone. Much attention has been paid to the fact that this is difficult for the employees, but this situation is also a great challenge for the managers of the company, says the CEO.

Nemko wants a debate on digital management in business, where companies can exchange experiences and learn from each other during the pandemic.

– Leading digitally is something completely new for everyone, and this management style offers a number of challenges, he says.

– For example, such management is characterized by short and quick messages, it becomes more difficult to interact with each other, trust can weaken, and both creative processes and development work become difficult to implement.

Management can develop in two opposite directions

Nemko believes that the lack of physical interaction during the pandemic can have consequences, such as less trust, poorer communication and a more challenging leadership situation.

Endre Sjøvold, NTNU management and restructuring expert, notes that these consequences often occur in management groups that focus more on structure, use of time and punctuality when employees have a home office.

– Then there will be less attention to the needs of employees and team building. The company reacts badly to this, says Sjøvold.

In an ongoing study, the NTNU expert follows how management groups develop in companies during the pandemic.

So he has advice on what can be profitable for businesses struggling with crown and home office stress.

– It appears that management teams that have focused more on staying in touch with their employees and initiating informal conversations work better for the company during the pandemic, he says.

This is then the opposite of companies that have rather hardened under the crown.

– If the management team initially experienced uncertainty with the leadership style, most of the time it leans toward full structuring during the pandemic. Structure is often affected by uncertainty, says Sjøvold.

He also points out a course that NTNU organizes for business leaders and how they learn how to influence their employees.

– In my head it’s the opposite. I believe that good leaders train employees to influence leaders. The creation of value in a company is in the employees, he concludes.

You don’t get less productive from the home office

Although senior managers at the licensing firm question home office productivity, researcher Nils Brede Moe speaks of the conflicting observations during the pandemic.

Moe is a senior researcher at the research company Sintef and tells E24 about a survey the company has conducted, where they have mapped what happened when employees from around the world moved into their headquarters. The survey was conducted both in Norway and abroad.

According to surveys, Moe says that, to a greater extent, they experience just as good or increased productivity from employees who have home offices.

– During the pandemic, in general there has been greater and better productivity. This means that people experience less discomfort and better concentration when sitting at home.

– When you are working on a complex problem and are interrupted, it may take up to 15 minutes before you can continue. In open landscapes, there are often many interruptions, he says.

At the same time, it’s not just about positive results, and in addition to variables like business size and initial communication between employees, you see that younger people are struggling harder.

– We experience that it is more difficult for young people to sit at home and work. They don’t have as large a network as their seniors, and the threshold is higher for asking for help and getting answers.

The principal investigator also agrees with Sjøvold’s comments.

– Autonomous units need little external control, where there is a high level of trust between managers and employees. Here they are not dedicated to informing. Instead of asking for reports, managers ask how their employees are doing at work.

– It is a hierarchical mentality of the management that gives a breathing space to the company, especially during a pandemic, he says.

Moe also says that lower-productivity units and teams in the central office often have internal communication issues from before, which are exacerbated when his employees move home.

Several note positive effects

This summer, E24 and VG conducted a survey of eight of Norway’s largest companies and examined how they coped with the home office revolution. The results suggested that more people will continue with home offices to varying degrees, also after the crown.

– It’s easier with video meetings when everyone is sitting at their own PC. Many people experience more tranquility, without small or large interruptions. Plus, less time is spent getting to and from work, which reduces stress, emphasized Executive Vice President Tove Selnes of HR / People at Storebrand.

The survey also showed that Norway’s largest company, Equinor, also gained a greater sense of home office solutions.

– We see that the need to travel is minimized and that one may possibly spend less time and resources on this in the future. At the same time, we have learned various ways to collaborate and are more flexible during business hours. So we’ve gained a lot of good experience here that we can take further, said communications manager Morten Eek.

However, all company representatives were completely open about the fact that home offices to a large extent also had glutes. But not heavy enough to outweigh the benefits.

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