While teleworking generated a wave of enthusiasm during the health crisis, it would appear that it is no longer as attractive, as evidenced by a recent survey of 3,200 people. Among our German neighbors, it is even on the decline, with one-fifth enjoying teleworking, compared with one-quarter a year earlier.

Is this the end of telecommuting? No. Nevertheless, telecommuting is not for everyone. Discover 6 signs that it's (perhaps) time to return to the office.

#1- When loneliness hurts

An Ifop survey of French teleworkers in 2020 reveals that 55% of them suffer from a lack of contact with their colleagues. According to their responses, talking face-to-face at the coffee machine and having lunch with colleagues are moments that contribute to their well-being. When you think about it, it's not surprising. Work is a place for socializing and romantic encounters.

When telecommuting, physical interactions and shared spaces - which can certainly be distracting from time to time - are replaced by a room (or corner of the house) commandeered as a work office, where employees find themselves alone. And for some, solitude becomes a suffering that affects morale, health and productivity. So it's important to make managers and employees aware of the warning signs, especially among extroverts who are known to need regular contact with others.

Warning signs include: difficulty getting up in the morning, lack of energy, pessimism, withdrawal, loss of self-confidence, loss of motivation, development of anxiety disorders, depression, sometimes leading to sick leave.

For example, an employee known for being cheerful, dynamic, sociable and proactive, but who has become withdrawn since teleworking, is probably not in his element at home.

#2- Overconnection, a threat to work/life balance

Are you receiving late-night e-mails? Does your employee have difficulty demarcating the boundary between work and personal life, with work encroaching on everything else? Does he check his work messages at weekends and on vacation? Then it's time to sound the alarm! Because what's in store for your colleague is overwork or, worse still, burn-out.

Who's most at risk? People who are known for their high level of investment and/or who have a strong need to be validated by their superiors. Because over-connection has deleterious effects on the health and well-being of employees, and on professional efficiency.

As INRS explains, there are three major problems associated with overconnection:

• The spillover of work into private life.

• Infobesity, or information overload. For some employees, the amount of information they receive is considerable, leading to interruptions and a feeling of never being able to stop.

• The emergence within the team of an implicit norm of permanent connection. The impression that it is necessary to be connected at all times leads to a multiplication of interruptions in the natural flow of work.

#3- Faulty communication causes tension

While face-to-face communication used to run smoothly, it's not the same now that the team is teleworking? Misunderstandings, misunderstandings, mistakes, wasted time... Employees and managers find it hard to make themselves understood. How can this happen?

The reason lies in the fact that communication is all about the words we use, our tone, our gestures, our gaze and our facial expression. So, when our interlocutor transmits information to us face-to-face, we interpret it through various sensory filters: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic.

In telecommuting, however, the majority of exchanges consist of written messages. This increases the risk of misinterpretation. Especially since, as human beings, we have a tendency to interpret a situation negatively. This cognitive mechanism, known as "negativity bias", is the brain's reaction to guard against danger when it doesn't perceive the full picture.

Remote and asynchronous communication can therefore be the source of misinterpretations of directives, feedback, behaviors and intentions, and trigger tensions that would not exist in face-to-face situations. So you see: if communication is creating friction within teams, maybe it's time to get back to the office.

#4- The team isn't as tight as it used to be

A sense of belonging is essential for team cohesion and employee loyalty. A light-hearted chat at the coffee machine, a shared laugh, working together or supporting a colleague in difficulty are all commonplace in the face-to-face environment, and contribute to building strong relationships.

With telecommuting - and especially total telecommuting - they disappear. Employees no longer have or have less physical contact, and their interactions are limited to professional messages. The relationship with others is now purely self-interested, i.e., exchanging information in order to get ahead with one's tasks and work. And yet, a sense of belonging and solid relationships are essential to well-being and motivation.

If, despite team video meetings and internal messaging tools, you find that exchanges between colleagues are strictly professional and terse, you can expect team cohesion to be shaken! In this case, it may be worth bringing your colleagues into the office to strengthen their bonds.

#5- "The cinema of productivity" or the art of pretending to work

"Productivity theater" is the phenomenon of giving the impression of being busy with tasks in order to appear more productive than you really are. This is the case, for example, when you write emails to show that you're working hard when you're really not, or when you send messages to the company's internal mailbox while everyone else has left work to give the impression that you're working overtime.

Telecommuting lends itself easily to this practice. According to a survey carried out by HR software Visier, 64% of employees appear to be "busy" because they think it's important for their career development, and 33% do it to show their manager their added value.

But nothing good can come of it. Indeed, the manager will have no trouble comparing the employee's results with his or her "fake" behavior. Obviously, the more the company values presenteeism, the more likely employees are to "fake it". If this is the case in your organization, before you decide to bring everyone back to the office, think about reviewing your management by prioritizing a relationship of trust with regard to working hours, and making your teams aware of this phenomenon.

#6- A lack of creativity

Who hasn't had an idea pop into their head while listening to someone else in the company talk about their day-to-day life? And yes, the best ideas aren't often born when you're looking for them. They come from just about anywhere, on the spur of the moment. But when you work alone from home, your daily routine is routine, and the conditions for stimulating creativity are not there.

If employees are faced with new problems that require them to find innovative solutions, telecommuting is probably not the ideal setting for activating individual and collective imagination! Returning to the office allows employees to exchange points of view, and synergize their skills and thoughts.