The pandemic-driven challenge of "productivity paranoia" -- and how to overcome it

Today – Oct. 10 – is World Mental Health Day 2022. We could sure use some, couldn’t we?

The clearest signs of our times – in the workplace, at least – can be read in the tone of our catchphrases.

“Quiet quitting.”

“Quiet firing.”

“Quick quitting.”

“Diversity fatigue.”

There’s not a lot of optimism and even less stability to be found in the whole bunch. Now, on the heels of that unsettled and unsettling quartet, comes an even more ominous bit of alliteration: “productivity paranoia,” yet another byproduct of the pandemic and the hybrid and remote working arrangements it either forced or made possible, depending on your perspective.

“Productivity paranoia” – the fear that your boss doesn’t think you’re doing enough, even if you think you are – isn’t exactly groundless.

Microsoft’s recent work study combined surveys of thousands of hybrid workers in 11 countries with online data analysis – including trillions of what the company calls “productivity signals.” The study found that hybrid workers and their employers could hardly be more different in their assessments of productivity.

Eighty-seven percent of workers considered themselves productive in a hybrid environment – but 85 percent of company leaders lacked confidence that their hybrid workers were as productive as they should be.

So employers worry – and monitor. Workers chafe at the surveillance – and game the system with mouse jigglers and other bits of “productivity theater.” Trust goes out the window. Employers just know that their remote workers are out running errands instead of hunching over their computers. Workers, far too many of them forced into the “endless workday” (there’s another cheerful catchphrase, eh?) by caregiving and other personal responsibilities, don’t trust their employers to judge them on their results, rather than on the number of times their computer goes to screen save mode during the day.

It’s exhausting, for both sides, and it’s not good for anyone’s mental health.

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For more on how to support your employees as a manager or leader, check out Employee Well-Being: A Manager's Guide to Mental Health

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Here’s an idea: Let’s dust off a catchphrase from the first Cold War era and put it back in service. Some of us are old enough to remember “Trust, but verify,” which then-President Ronald Reagan used several times in disarmament discussions with the old Soviet Union.

If you’re a remote worker – and this might be hard, if your employer is part of that 85 percent supermajority – trust that your instincts about your own productivity are right, so long as you’re meeting your deadlines, KPIs, quality standards and the like. Verify by confirming all those things in writing with your manager, as often as you need to for your own peace of mind (and your own protection).

Work to build a stronger relationship with your boss. Check in regularly even if it’s not “required.” Be assertive about the assignments you’re given and the progress you’re making or the challenges you’re encountering. By overcommunicating, you’ll help them see that you are reliable and can be trusted to get the job done.

If you’re an employer, verify your hybrid workers’ productivity by those same criteria: Are they getting work done on time and to standard? Are they hitting their numbers? Are they continuing to grow in their roles? If not, then work with them on a human level to get them back on track to their real performance standards, not the arbitrary electronic surveillance measures of “productivity.”

But if they are meeting those real standards, trust them to do that in the way that works best for them. So what if they take a break to pick up the kids from school, or run to the store for something they forgot – or even take a half hour on a gorgeous fall afternoon to do nothing but go to the park for some fresh air and sunlight?

In other words, treat people like people – people with lives, obligations and mental health needs. One of those basic needs is trust – and trust me, if you as a leader give it, it’ll be repaid with interest.

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