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AOM Scholars On… The Remote Disconnect: Challenges and Opportunities within the Future of Work

09 Mar 2022
Watch the recording! AOM Scholars discuss what aspects of in-office work are most missed and what those ramifications are for firms, managers, and employees.

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The Academy of Management’s third virtual AOM Scholar-led panel.

AOM Scholars On...
The Remote Disconnect: Challenges and Opportunities within the Future of Work

Leading global workplace scholar expert and Panel Moderator Brianna Caza of the University North Carolina, Greensboro joined panelists Ariane Ollier-Malaterre of Université du Québec à Montréal, Loran Nordgren of Northwestern University, Kyle Emich of the University of Delaware, and Elizabeth Altman of the University of Massachusetts Lowell to discuss “The Remote Disconnect: Challenges and Opportunities within the Future of Work” as part of AOM’s scholar-led webinar panel on 24 March 2022. 

The panel shared their expertise and research-based insights on what aspects of in-office work is most missed, and what those ramifications are for firms, managers, and employees. 

The AOM Scholars showcased their research-based insights to make sense of these new remote work realities and to provide actionable tips and insights for organizations, practitioners, scholars, and the world at-large.  

 

The panel delivered research-based insights informing: 

  • The hidden and not so hidden consequences of work from home and coming back into the office 
  • What managers can do to give employees more control over the remote work process without overstepping boundaries 
  • The approaches that managers and companies should take when it comes to leading and managing remote workers 
  • Steps organizations can take to manage inequity in the workplace that are associated with the future of work  
  • How colleagues are missing integral professional relationships as a result of remote work, and how these missed relationship building opportunities disproportionately impact minority workforces 
  • Advice for managers and organizations to help employees acclimate employees as they come back to work 
  • How remote work contributes to transactional interactions between employees and their organization 

Panel Soundbites

The following quotes were edited for clarity and conciseness 

“We’ve learned that connection is so critical and [the need for] organizations to find ways to connect employees is going to be critical moving forward in the post-pandemic world."
—Brianna Caza 

“Virtual teams don’t work as well as a face-to-face team… The problem with remote work is that it inhibits interaction like meaningful, friendly banter, and it reduces a sense of ‘teamliness.'"
—Kyle Emich 

“The switch has been flipped… Organizations need to learn more about how to build communities that are virtual and global, and what skills are needed to manage this community."
—Elizabeth J. Altman  

“The expectation of availability has risen with remote work, and if managers don’t lower their expectations of employee availability, workers [may] quickly become emotionally exhausted.” 
—Ariane Ollier-Malaterre 

“The clear hidden cost is the cohesion and bonding that takes place with face-to-face interaction. Because virtual interaction is simply less satisfying, often the way teams and organizations solve this problem is to build bonding moments virtually. And … this solution doesn’t seem to solve the problem well.
—Loran Nordgren 

Learn more about AOM’s Subject Matter Experts.


Panel Moderator 


Brianna Caza, University North Carolina, Greensboro


Panelists


Elizabeth Altman, University of Massachusetts Lowell



Kyle Emich, University of Delaware

 


Loran Nordgren, Northwestern University

 


Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, Université du Québec à Montréal