How to Beat Productivity Paranoia When You Work Remotely
There’s a relatively new term in the working world: productivity paranoia. The term was first coined by Microsoft in 2022 to refer to managers’ concerns that employees were not being productive enough when working remotely. To this end, much of the available advice for alleviating productivity paranoia is aimed at managers, but misses the fact that remote workers feel pressure to prove they are productive . This pressure can lead to employees choosing not to take breaks or wasting time without their bosses knowing how much they are actually doing. If you’re a worker and you’re stressed about whether your boss will recognize your hard work or have some performance paranoia, this is for you.
What is productivity paranoia?
According to Microsoft, 85% of business leaders surveyed said the shift to hybrid work is making it difficult to have confidence in employee productivity. Thus, productivity paranoia is “when leaders fear that productivity loss is due to employees not working even though hours worked, number of meetings, and other activity measures have increased.”
Advice to managers typically involves building trust within teams and checking in on workers’ performance to overcome this paranoia, but this doesn’t leave much room for what workers themselves can do to curb their own paranoia about their bosses’ paranoia. To be honest, there is a lot of paranoia out there, even though research has shown that working from home can actually improve productivity – and all that paranoia may actually be hurting productivity!
“If workers are preoccupied with how productive they appear, it can lead to burnout or disengagement from the work at hand,” says Michelle Reisdorf, district president of global human resources consulting firm Robert Half. “Not only can work suffer, but it can also negatively impact office or team morale.”
How to Deal with Productivity Paranoia
If managers worry about productivity and workers worry so much about appearing productive that they become unproductive, that’s a problem. So what can you do to combat this problem as an employee?
First, Reisdorf says managers and employees need to have regular touchpoints and an open line of communication to agree on projects, expectations and progress, and resolve issues and concerns. Much of this depends on leadership, but you can contribute by initiating regular conversations about career development, expressing interest in professional development opportunities, and volunteering to lead or contribute to projects. A simple talk on Slack can make a big difference here; you don’t have to misrepresent yourself to look engaged.
It’s also helpful to have concrete evidence of your productivity and success that you can point to in conversations you initiate or during regular check-ins and reviews. Try setting monthly goals for yourself , storing them in a specific folder or drive (known as a “single source of truth”), and conducting a personal review at the end of each month, documenting all your wins and accomplishments in one folder. If you commit to keeping track of your productivity month by month, it will serve several purposes: first, you’ll have something to immediately point to if you’re ever asked (or feel obligated) to show how much you’re getting done. working remotely. Secondly, seeing your victories written down somewhere will help you feel less anxious about your results and realize how much you are actually doing.
In terms of reducing this concern, Reisdorf pointed to Robert Half’s 2023 State of Work Study, which found that 82% of managers overseeing hybrid teams feel that in-office and remote workers have the same career advancement opportunities. You have nothing to lose by not being there in person, which may help you feel a little better about how you are perceived. Just remember to stay connected and keep track of how much you get done. Then take a deep breath. You’re far from alone in feeling this way, even if you can’t sympathize with your colleagues face-to-face.