The new realities that the pandemic to work have forced many employees to work remotely.
See also: Teleworking: Will employees accept being monitored?
This, in turn, has made it difficult for superiors to control employees, leaving many of them feeling powerless.
In a recent survey by Microsoft, a large number of managers admitted that they can no longer manage employees, either because they lack the right resources in the new world of remote work, or because they have simply lost their influence.
At least many admit it. Some, however, believe they can maintain control by using brute force and intimidation.
According to a story posted on Redditby u/Watsis-name, a boss thought he could show his employees who was boss.
The boss called a meeting because, as he claims, “he was not happy that employees were logging into Teams at 8:35 when they were working from home, when they were supposed to start work at 8:30.”
As user u/Watsis_name pointed out, however, “this is simply because when we start our workday at 8:30, it takes a few minutes for our computer to load, just like in the office.”
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One would think that this logical explanation would be enough for a boss, however many superiors fear losing their influence and try in every way to prove that they maintain control.
This also happened with this particular boss, who declared that he would bring back to the office the employees who didn't do what he wanted.
He also called a conference call to discuss this urgent matter, and to demonstrate his strength, he requested it at the end of the day.
u/Watsis_name says he gave a measured response. He wrote that he “will comply with the new requirements in the future, but I need to finish on time today as my resume needs updating. Thanks for your time and goodbye.”
One commentator on the story described the crux of the current situation: “It seems to me that many middle management types have found that they have little or nothing to do because people are working from home and they are afraid that they will be fired because it is obvious that their jobs consist of managing people who do not need to be managed.”
See also: Microsoft turns Teams and Outlook into hybrid work-friendly tools
Perhaps making sure employees simply do the job regardless of how and when should be the primary purpose of management.
Making their lives as comfortable as possible to achieve this may be another primary goal. Annoying them unnecessarily and threatening them with a return to the office may not yield any results.
