Traits and preferences increasing risks related to remote work
With actions to avoid the risks working from home
Some areas have a higher risk of causing people to become disengaged from their work or developing mental illnesses. Below we've listed the areas with suggestions how to mitigate these risks.
Emotional balance
Emotional balance describes the ability to cope with stress and indicates your emotional response to events and people. It is derived from your personality test.
| High emotional balance | Low emotional balance |
|---|---|
| People with a high score experience less panic, confusion, and helplessness when under pressure or when facing emergency situations. You can resist most of the downsides of working from home and are less likely to add an emotional value to relatively low-context events. Having no in-person or live interactions is highly unlikely to cause too much uncertainty. | If your personality profile shows a low degree of emotional balance, you could probably interpret things that may not be intended or expressed by the sender (like hostility or blame). Having no in-person or live interactions may drive uncertainty, which tends to cause exhaustion, sickness, and even burnout |
- Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness practices, such as meditation or journaling, can help to regulate emotions and reduce stress.
- Avoid multitasking: Focusing on one task at a time can help to reduce cognitive overload and prevent feelings of being overwhelmed.
- Be proactive in communication: Avoiding assumptions and proactively checking in with colleagues can help to reduce the likelihood of interpreting things that may not be intended or expressed by the writer.
- Take regular breaks: Regularly stepping away from work can help to prevent burnout and improve overall well-being.
- Prioritize self-awareness: Being aware of your emotional state and identifying triggers can help to manage them effectively.
- Establish a routine: Establishing a daily routine can help to create a sense of normalcy, reducing uncertainty and providing structure.
Actions to take to improving your emotional balance:
Optimism
Optimism regulates how people cope with life's ups and downs and indicates your overall positivity and mood. It is derived from your personality test.
| High optimism | Low optimism |
|---|---|
| Optimistic people rarely feel like something unpleasant, threatening, or dangerous is about to happen whereas pessimists tend to react quite strongly to fluctuations in their daily life. Optimists tend to trust that things will be okay in the future and don't worry a lot, and are far less likely to add a negative emotional value or mindset to relatively neutral events. | People on the lower optimism more often and easier have the tendency to have negative thoughts and may distrust others due to them perceiving risks more clearly than opportunities. |
Actions to take to keep optimistic in challenging situations:
- Schedule regular virtual meetings or check-ins with colleagues to maintain social connections and build trust.
- Set clear communication boundaries and expectations with your team to reduce uncertainty and confusion.
- Prioritize self-care by establishing a routine, taking breaks, and getting regular exercise.
- Make an effort to engage in positive thinking and reframe negative thoughts.
- Seek out opportunities for professional development or learning, to keep yourself motivated and engaged.
- Try to maintain a balance between work and personal life by creating a defined schedule and sticking to it.
- Try to minimize distractions and maintain a professional work environment.
- Take the time to reflect on your thoughts and feelings, and try to identify what's causing any negative thoughts or feelings.
- Seek feedback from your colleagues and manager, to understand how you can improve and build trust.
Work-autonomy
Work-autonomy indicates your preference towards working with either people and teams or individually with your own tasks and is derived from your work values test.
| High preference for work-autonomy | Low preference for work-autonomy |
|---|---|
| A high preference for work-autonomy indicates that you are more likely to enjoy working on projects and problems regardless of the people - if any - surrounding you. Having no in-office or team-interactions is very unlikely to move you from a very productive path. | Having strong preference towards working with people and in teams on projects rather than on specific problems or tasks, likely to create an unmet desire to collaborate when working from home without team-interactions. |
Actions to take to reduce the risk of having a low score on work-orientation:
- Seek virtual collaboration opportunities: Look for virtual collaboration opportunities such as virtual team meetings or video conferencing to stay connected with team members.
- Create a virtual "watercooler": find ways to have casual interactions with your coworkers, like virtual coffee breaks, or virtual lunch dates.
- Set goals and deadlines: Having specific goals and deadlines can help to keep you focused on tasks and motivated to complete them.
- Prioritize communication: Make sure to communicate effectively and regularly with team members, this will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that any questions or concerns can be addressed quickly.
- Maintain relationships: Make an effort to maintain relationships with team members and coworkers, even if you're not physically in the same location.
- Create a structure: Create a schedule for yourself that includes dedicated time for work and for social interaction.
- Look for opportunities to learn: Take advantage of online learning opportunities to learn new skills that can be used to collaborate with team members.
- Find a balance: Try to find a balance between working on tasks and collaborating with others, this can help to keep you motivated and engaged.
Social independence
Social independence indicates your preference between working in independant or communicative environments and is derived from your work values test.
| High preference of social independence | Low preference of social independence |
|---|---|
| Preferring to work independently, you are not bothered or vulnerable to communicating asynchronously with your colleagues. Hence, you are less likely to get demotivated from working from home as this will not affect your engagement or fulfillment. | Having low preference for independence makes you vulnerable to typically low communication environments such as your house, where no in-office or team-interactions is likely to demoralize you. |
- Prioritize communication: Make an effort to communicate regularly with colleagues and team members, whether through email, instant messaging, or video conferencing.
- Establish a virtual "watercooler": find ways to have casual interactions with your coworkers, like virtual coffee breaks, or virtual lunch dates.
- Set goals and deadlines: Having specific goals and deadlines can help to keep you focused on tasks and motivated to complete them.
- Seek virtual collaboration opportunities: Look for virtual collaboration opportunities such as virtual team meetings or video conferencing to stay connected with team members.
- Maintain relationships: Make an effort to maintain relationships with team members and coworkers, even if you're not physically in the same location.
- Create a structure: Create a schedule for yourself that includes dedicated time for work and for social interaction.
- Find a balance: Try to find a balance between working independently and communicating with others, this can help to keep you motivated and engaged.
Actions to take to reduce the risk linked to low preference of independence:
Work-life balance
People who care about work-life balance often take preference to their life outside of work and prefer to keep a separation between their time working for the organisation and their time outside of it. Work-life balance indicates your preference or need of having clear boundaries between life and work and is derived from your work values test.
| High preference for work-life balance | Low preference for work-life balance |
|---|---|
| Prioritizing high work-life balance means that you want clear boundaries between life and work. It is important to not mix the both and take measures to not blur the lines. | In your case, working from home can make you more efficient and dynamic. You do need some boundaries between life and work so we still advise you to create some degrees of separation from work |
Actions to take to reduce the risk linked to high preference of work-life balance:
- Set clear boundaries: Establish clear boundaries between your work and personal life, such as designated work hours and designated non-work hours, and stick to them.
- Create a schedule: Create a schedule for yourself that includes dedicated time for work, leisure, and self-care activities.
- Prioritize self-care: Engage in activities that promote physical and mental well-being, such as exercise, meditation, or therapy.
- Take regular breaks: Regularly stepping away from work can help to prevent burnout and improve overall well-being.
- Communicate with your family and friends: Make sure to communicate your work schedule and needs to your family and friends, this will help them to understand and support you.
- Disconnect from work: When you are not working, disconnect from work-related activities, such as email and instant messaging, this will help you to relax and recharge.
- Be honest with yourself: Be honest with yourself about your needs and limitations, and make sure to take the time you need to take care of yourself.