Back to the office? IWM psychologists advise a well-prepared return from remote working

As of 1 July, companies in Germany no longer have to offer a remote working option, but many employees have mixed feelings when thinking about returning to the office. IWM researchers PD Dr. Annika Scholl and Prof. Dr. Kai Sassenberg look at this transition from a psychological perspective.

While some are looking forward to more opportunities for personal exchange and less screen time, others fear the loss of working independently. In addition, people and companies have changed their way of working in the pandemic. "The sum of these changes suggests that the return may not naturally be smooth. If employees expect that everything will be the same as it was before the pandemic, unpleasant surprises and disappointments can arise," says Prof. Dr. Kai Sassenberg.

Together with PD Dr. Annika Scholl, he has published an article on this topic in the online magazine wissensdialoge.de, of which Scholl is the managing editor and co-founder. The most important thing for the two researchers is a good preparation of the transition phase. "Workshops or events can make the return to the office meaningful. Explicit and revisable agreements also help to avoid conflicts and disappointments when it comes to new norms such as not shaking hands anymore," recommends Annika Scholl. Nevertheless, the end of remote work will not go along with returning to the old normality. To cope well with this situation, people need one thing above all: time to get back together.