Working from Home – A Psychological and Personality Perspective

By Nigel Oseland

I always find interesting when classic psychological theory can help inform current situations. It has become apparent that working from home (WFH), and social isolation, like many things follows the Yerkes-Dodson Law, with its inverted U-shape relationship. 

The Yerkes-Dodson Law is traditionally used to describe the relationship between levels of mental and physiological arousal and performance, see Figure 1. When we are at our optimum level of arousal, we perform to our maximum (the top of the curve). However, when the level of arousal is low, for example, when we are tired, demotivated, lethargic or bored our performance drops. Furthermore, when our level of arousal is high, for example when excited or stressed, performance also drops.

The inverted U-shape curve applies to many relationships and indeed appears to apply to WFH. We are all discovering the ideal amount of time we can work from home to reach our optimum performance. Too little WFH and we may lose performance due to too many daily distractions from colleagues. Too much WFH and we may lose performance due to too few interactions with colleagues, and other home distractions. 

Another relevant psychological theory is Altman’s Privacy Regulation Theory. Privacy is often confused with social withdrawal, but Altman argues privacy is a dynamic boundary regulation process where privacy is our desired level of social interaction. So, if the achieved level of privacy is more than that desired, we will feel lonely or isolated. In contrast, if the level of privacy is less than the desired one, we will feel crowded. Not achieving the desired level of privacy, either too high or too low, will result in stress and loss of performance. So, the abscissa of the Yerkes-Dodson chart could be level of interaction rather than arousal, see Figure 2.  

Regarding the current situation with Covid-19 and social isolation, the abscissa could also be viewed as time. There is an optimum amount of time working from home to reach maximum performance. For example, it may take a few days to settle into a new routine, adopt new technology or working practices. However, as time goes on performance may drop due to lack of interaction, management, motivation and innovation etc. Indeed, my recent research on workplace loneliness, found that long-term home workers have higher levels of loneliness. The trick is to extend the peak of optimum performance and, borrowing a current analogy, “flatten the curve” to maintain performance, see Figure 3.

As with the classic Arousal-Performance relationship, the Yerkes-Dodson WFH curve also varies with personality, see Figure 4, and complexity of task. Personality types such as Introverts are more likely to cope with extended periods of social isolation, but it may take them more tie to settle into a routine, their new surroundings and way of working. In contrast, Extroverts are likely to miss interaction sooner than their Introverted colleagues and may be more easily distracted by other home activities. Extroverts will require more interaction via phone and on-line meetings. Clearly home-working is more suited to tasks requiring focus and concentration, to which Introverts are generally better suited, and virtual collaboration tools allow controlled interaction, which Introverts may also prefer. 

As managers it is key to recognise how individual team members are coping with WFH and provide the appropriate level of support. Regarding management, some staff will require on-going objectives setting and deadlines, whereas others will require more daily (virtual) interaction and guidance in order to maintain performance through extended periods of isolation. 

Think about how you can replicate good management techniques used in the office in remote working environments. For example, hold regular team meetings (and even on-line social events), check-in with staff regularly with videoconference (Zoom or Team) calls, set short-term and long-term deadlines, and monitor work tasks and performance with appropriate rewards.

Setting-up for homeworking

By Nigel Oseland & Iain Smith

Many of us now have no choice but to work from home, but how many of us are properly set-up for it? As mentioned in our first blog, The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) requires that employers provide “a working environment for employees that is … safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work”. This applies to all working environments including the home and covers ventilation, temperature, lighting and space plus the chair, desk and computer. 

A good starting point to check you have the appropriate set-up is the HSE’s self-assessment checklist for Display Screen Equipment Workstations. Their checklist covers:

• Keyboards – For example, do you have a comfortable keying position?
• Mice – For example, is the device positioned close to you?
• Display screens – For example, is the screen free from glare and reflections and does the screen swivel and tilt … to a comfortable position?
• Software – For example, is the software suitable for the tasks you are conducting?
• Furniture – For example, is the work surface large enough, is the chair suitable and are your forearms horizontal and eyes at roughly the same height as the top of the screen?
• Environments – For example, are the lighting, temperature, air quality and noise at comfortable levels?

If you find the above are not being met, consult your manager, HR department or H&S representative for a long-term solution. However, there are other temporary remedial measures that you can take. 

Screen height – Of all the above requirements, the height of the computer screen is most critical as continuous neglect can eventually lead to chronic musculoskeletal problems. Ideally you will require a separate monitor that can be plugged into your PC or laptop. These can be expensive but shop around on-line for a smaller screen or older model – a smaller separate monitor is better than looking down at your laptop screen. If the monitor is too small, then use stacked books etc to raise the height. Avoid placing a laptop on books etc as this will affect the height of your elbows, see below. A slightly better solution is a laptop cradle which angles the keyboard and raises the screen. Even better are the cradles that come with a separate keyboard, but they are less common and more expensive – a cradle and separate keyboard works well. 

Chair & desk – The table/desk height is also important with arms bent at approximately 90° when typing. Relatively inexpensive but ergonomically reliable “task chairs” can be purchased on-line and delivered to your home. If you do not have this option, find a chair that matches the height of your table and use cushions or chocks to adjust the height. 

Environment – One advantage of working from home is that you may have more individual control over lighting, temperature, air quality and noise. Ideally you will have good daylight and nice views of a garden, park or planting (all good for creativity and reenergising). As mentioned, in our previous blog, try to minimise distractions from other household members. Where practical, ask them to postpone noisier activities, or at least reduce the level, such as television, washing machine, play. You may find that background music or headphones can mask distracting noises. When setting up also look-out for trailing cables and other trip hazards.

We hope you have found these short-cuts handy, do contact us for more advice.

Managing your homeworking time

By Iain Smith

Daily homeworking is now a reality for most of us. We recognise that there is a mix of experiences when it comes to homeworking. Many may have carried out full-time or occasional homeworking before, but for the majority homeworking is new territory. Some of us enjoy homeworking and find it productive whereas others do not enjoy this way of working and find it demotivating or full of distractions. 

So here is our simple guidance and our top tips which will help you get the most from working in this way. Whatever your situation, we hope the information below will help you to stay focussed, productive and positive.

Tip #1 – Get the most important stuff done first

The focus of this one is: “set yourself up to succeed”.

As you are about to complete today’s work, ask yourself “if there are only one or two things that I manage to get done tomorrow, what should they be?”

Once you have chosen what they are, prepare whatever you need so you can be ready to get started the next day. Lay out your materials in advance, have you files ready and opened (on your table or desktop). 

When you start work in the morning, go straight to doing the first of these tasks. Avoid checking your emails first – this will just distract you. Switch off instant alerts if necessary and allocate a time when you will check your inbox later (maybe mid-morning or better still lunchtime). Totally focus your efforts on these tasks until they are complete. 

Avoid trying to multi-task. Starting a number of jobs at the same time means that the majority of them will not receive your undivided attention. Think of multitasking as dealing with more than one task during a day, not at the same time. That way you will focus on the project in hand and see it through to completion.

Tip #2 – Manage disruptions

We recognise that in the current situation, you may be working in a home environment where other people are around which can be distracting and tricky to manage – especially children! Where possible, try and find a workspace in your home that is free from interruptions, so you can focus fully. Let people know you wish to be left alone and tell them when you will be free. 

Science tells us that it takes around 15 minutes to reach a state of flow – “to get into the zone”. After each interruption, whether family, emails, calls or social media etc, it takes 15 minutes to recover. Once we have achieved a state of flow, it is important that we are able to stay there and perform until our next break (ideally 90 minutes, see Tip 3). 

To achieve do this we need to manage interruptions. The following tips will help with this:

• Put an entry in your calendar so that work colleagues can see that you do not want to be disturbed.
• Turn off outlook notifications so that they do not pop up on your screen.
• Turn you phone to silent.
• If necessary, tell others at home that you about to go into a “do not disturb mode” for 90 minutes.

Tip #3 – Take regular breaks

When working from home there can be a tendency to sit in front of your screen all day.  This is not a productive way to work and actually goes against the natural biological rhythm of our minds and bodies (known as the “ultradian rhythm”). It's important to take regular breaks and move around just as you would in an office. 

Tony Schwartz of the Energy Project discovered that the best way to work is for 90 minutes chunks and then stop for an energising break. An energising break is anything that makes you feel good. Go outside and enjoy the fresh air, do a bit of gardening, take a walk, have a chat ... that kind of thing. In particular, walks amongst greenery have been found to reenergise us and to also enhance creativity. 

Then go back to work. If you do this, you will find that you are really focussed and highly productive for your next 90 minutes.  In effect your will move between “performance” and “renewal.” If you do not, you will eventually slide into burnout. 

Another tip – before stopping for a break, write a quick note of the next couple of things that you need to do so that you are focussed and can quickly get back into it when you return. 

Tip #4 – Stay connected with friends and colleagues

It can feel isolating at times when working from home and you can easily go a whole day without speaking to anyone. Just because you are not in the office, that doesn’t mean that you should miss out on engaging and interacting with your colleagues in the same way that you may be used to in an office. In fact, it is very important that you don’t miss out. 

Use your calendar to plan a few “coffee catch ups’’ each day and go out of your way to reach out to a few people. 

Some teams find it useful to schedule a daily team catch up, just to share news and check in. Lots of teams who work remotely already do this in the form of team huddles at the start of the day, or at the end of the day where you can discuss what everyone’s been focussing on, and priorities and focus for the following day. 

Where you can, try and pick up the phone or use videoconferencing (such as Teams or Zoom) to and have a proper conversation rather than relying on email and instant messaging. Calling people and having a conversation can be much better for you than a chain of emails.

Tip #5 – Have a set time to end your working day

It really important when working from home that you are able to set some boundaries. The working day may look a little different at the moment as we all try to juggle outside responsibilities with getting the work done. However, you need to structure your day, you should ensure that there is a defined end point. 

If you have been following the other top tips so far, your productivity will have increased and so there is no reason why you need to work any longer than this. 

Once you have reached that point, spend a few minutes planning the next day and then stop ... and wind down.


Hopefully you found this blog useful. Contact the Remote Works team for more advice. 

Virtual Meeting Etiquette

By Nigel Oseland

When it comes to virtual meetings at work, I’ve always been in two minds. On the one hand face-to-face is more dynamic, more engaging and more responsive. We pick up on non-verbal communication – facial expressions and other body languages revealing engagement and understanding. We use body language to emphasise messages and refer to previous shared experiences – see my collaboration report for more detail. I often joke that I want to smell others in the room not just hear or see them.

On the other hand, once initial contact has been made face-to-face, trust gained and simply “putting a face to the name”, videoconferencing offers other advantages, such as saving on time and travel. At the start of the year I had two demanding clients who expected me to make 3 to 4 hours round trips for 1-hour meetings – not a great use of time and resource and unnecessary. And of course, on-line meetings prevent cross-infection! Furthermore, you can also see those on the call and can tell who is engaged or who is distracted or working on other things. 

Videoconferencing through Zoom, Skype (when it works) and Teams helps with the above and is more preferable to the dreaded teleconference. Have you ever been on a teleconference with more than three people, or been the one on the call while others are gathered in a room? People talk over each other (no visual clues) and there is so much background noise it’s hard to hear what’s going on, and of course those in a room use body language and completely forget those on the phone. So, videoconferencing is clearly a step-up from teleconferencing and helps with non-verbal communication. 

We have rapidly become more used to on-line meetings, but I’ve noticed some basic mistakes which are easily rectified. Below are my top tips on business virtual meeting etiquette.

Like all meetings an invite is required with joining instructions (the Zoom link and passcode etc) and an agenda with timings. 

1. A chairperson is also required. They will be responsible for sticking to time but also ensuring all are heard without talking over each other – in virtual meetings they can control the mics of all participants. Some may be new to on-line meetings so the chair should also explain how a virtual meeting works technically, for example muting mics, sharing screens and using the chat. The chair should also let participants know when their mic is in mute when trying to speak and when it should be on mute. Hand signal for “time up”, “can’t hear you” or “all good" may also be agreed, rather than everyone switch their mic on. The chair may assign someone to keep time and use “traffic light” cards to keep speakers on track. Like all meetings, follow an on-line one up with a list of key actions, so also assign a minute taker. To help this some collaboration tools allow you to record the meeting (with permission).
2. Participate in an on-line meeting like you would a normal office meeting. Consider your attire - yes we can dress down when at home but remember some participants may be seeing you for the first time. Also consider your behaviours – if you were in a face-to-face meeting would you be dipping in and out of the room, would you be busy doing emails etc. Saying “I didn’t quite catch that can you repeat it” is a dead giveaway. The agenda should indicate whether you are required or not and if you attend then give the meeting your full attention.
3. Consider the visual environment. Some of us have offices but others may be working from the kitchen table. You wouldn’t attend a physical meeting with your ironing or personal artefacts so clear the background. Some collaboration tools allow you to blur the background or even add a virtual one. Seat yourself and set up your computer so you can be easily seen – check that the lighting or sunlight is not “burning” you out. When speaking look at the camera rather than the screen as this gives you better “eye contact”. I find that if the meeting is a videoconference then the expectation is to have the video switched on. I might be wrong, but I assume that those not using video are engaged in other activities and not fully committed to the meeting. Also, as mentioned, a key advantage of videoconferencing is that it helps with non-verbal communication. 
4. The acoustic environment is key. When not speaking put the mic on mute so that others are not distracted by background sound e.g. coughing, sneezing, traffic, washing machines, kettles boiling or flushing toilets (I’ve heard them all). Check your microphone and sound before the meeting rather than hold it up at the start. Choose a quiet place without acoustic or visual distractions. 
5. Due to Coronavirus many of us have discovered the benefits of virtual meetings and I suspect that post-Coronavirus we will continue with them and use them more than before. Just follow my simple steps above to ensure these meetings are productive.

Any key tips that I have missed?

Many thanks to Berkhamsted Speakers Club for the image and insight.

Remote working: Are you compliant?

By Nigel Oseland

Flexible working has been practiced for many years and the right for employees to request flexible arrangements is now fully enshrined in UK statute law. One quarter of office workers now have some form of flexible working contract and 4.2 million people spend at least half their working time at home which suggests remote working is now the norm in the modern workplace.

Remote working is more than flexible working. It is a business solution incorporates technology and management style to offer choice of when and where work. Remote working comes under many guises which all have their own nuances. For example, it may be referred to as “new ways of working”, “agile working” or “activity based working”. Remote working may be defined as undertaking work activities away from the normal office base in locations such as client premises, in transit, at home and from third places, such as a coffee bar or library.

There are many proven benefits to remote working, for both the staff and organisation. Traditionally, the key driver is financial i.e. reducing space, property and infrastructure costs.  However, often bigger benefits come through increased empowerment of people to find their best way of working. This creates productivity gains, reduces travel time, decreases absenteeism and improves staff attraction & retention, by increasing diversity through trust and better work-life balance. Another benefit is improved organisational resilience.

However, with these benefits comes responsibilities. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) requires that employers offer “the provision and maintenance of a working environment for employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work”. 

ACAS (2014) clarifies that whilst the health and safety of home workers is a little different to office-based staff, employers have a duty of care for all their employees, and the requirements of the Act apply to home and remote workers. As a minimum “the employer is responsible for carrying out a risk assessment to check whether the proposed home workplace's ventilation, temperature, lighting, space, chair, desk and computer, or any kind of workstation, and floor are suitable for the tasks the home worker will be carrying out”. It may be necessary for the employer to visit the homes of workers to carry out a risk assessment, but in most cases, it can be done with the co-operation of the home worker. Furthermore, the employer is responsible for all the equipment it supplies to its workers, regardless of the location. 

The duty of care of the employer extends to assessing suitability of the individual employee ensuring they have the necessary skills, skills, training, support and tools to work safely, securely and effectively in remote environments. This requires policies, guides and appropriate training for staff and their managers as well as audit trails and reviews to ensure ongoing competence, compliance and engagement. Employer ignorance and lack of structured support for remote working employees is no defence if problems arise.

One often-cited reason that organisations and managers ignore remote working health and safety responsibilities is the belief that as employees make the choice to occasionally work outside the office then health and safety is also their own responsibility. However, this is not strictly the case and a difficult interpretation to uphold in a court of law.

In fact, the legislation is clear and yet many organisations ignore or are oblivious to the health and safety requirements of their workers outside of the office. Whilst, there has not yet been any significant documented court case in which a remote worker has made a claim against their employer, there are several law firms offering “no-win no-fee” support for such claims and so it is surely just a matter of time.

However, it is not just the employer that has responsibility. The employee also has obligations to work within defined company and legal boundaries when working remotely and particularly in the home. For instance, they must rectify any flaws in the home highlighted by the mandatory risk assessment and, once the home has passed the assessment, they are responsible for its upkeep. Employees also have personal responsibility for any office equipment or furniture that they personally provide for working at home. Furthermore, there are implications for home insurance, planning permission and income tax.

Mobile communication is now common practice and can lead to "always on" cultures. Without establishing clear boundaries for employees, this can lead to wellbeing issues. Legislation regarding remote work is becoming more stringent in Europe. For example, in France companies are now obliged to agree that employee may switch off their mobile devices outside of normal work hours to reduce intrusion into their private lives. There is likely to be pressure for the UK to follow a similar path.

Nevertheless, it is clear that remote working is on the increase and, if done properly, it offers many benefits to the staff and business. But these benefits cannot be claimed without providing a safe and healthy environment for all employees. If you need further help to ensure you comply with legislation then contacts us for a consultation with one of our experts.