Lockdown and Office Routine
I
Lead-in.
1)
Take
two minutes to write down your associations with the word ‘habit’. Work in
pairs and compare your lists. What are the similarities and differences in your
list. Ask follow-up questions to find out more about other students’
associations with the word ‘habit’.
2)
What
habits are considered to be good? What habits are bad?
3)
How
do habits form? How long can it take for an action to become a habit?
II Vocabulary focus. Match
the words to their definitions. Use three words in your sentences.
|
1. |
entrenched |
A. |
cause of
trouble or unhappiness |
|
2. |
commute |
B. |
to work more slowly and with less effort
than usually |
|
3. |
anxiety |
C. |
a place that
gives protection from danger and unhappiness |
|
4. |
to slack |
D. |
a person paid by another company to work on
a particular project |
|
5. |
fatigue |
E. |
able to
imagine how someone else feels |
|
6. |
wake-up call |
F. |
fixed and
difficult to change |
|
7. |
to abandon |
G. |
nervousness or
worry |
|
8. |
curse |
H. |
extreme
tiredness |
|
9. |
refuge |
I. |
regular
journey between work and home |
|
10. |
contractor |
J. |
something that
makes people realize they need to change the situation |
|
11. |
empathic |
K. |
to leave
forever |
III
Look through the article. Five sentences have been removed.
Read the article and choose from the sentences (A-J) the one which fits each
gap (1-7). There are sentences that you do not need to use.
Habits
can be slow to form. But when they do, they can become entrenched. 1) ______. It is now ten months since many British employees
have made a regular commute into the office. New routines have taken root and
those will be much harder to break. Some of these new habits are bad, and they
may stem as much from managers as from workers.
A
survey of more than 13,000 knowledge workers (defined as those who mostly work
at a computer) across eight countries
found that, on average in 2020, employees were working 455 hours a year
more than their contracted requirement, or around two hours a day. That
overtime had almost doubled relative to 2019. And much of the excess may not
have been necessary; workers complained about the amount of time they spent in
meetings and video-calls, or in responding to messages.
Perhaps
this forced communication is the result of manager anxiety. Fearful that remote
workers will be tempted to slack, they have closely monitored their teams. 2) ______.
They may have trapped themselves in a cycle of useless activity. Many managers
complain of “Zoom fatigue”, as they drag themselves from one video-call to
another, often keeping other participants waiting as they try to wrap up the
previous meeting. However, if they get rid of the needless meetings,
productivity should improve. Perhaps managers will make it their new year’s
resolution to ask the question, “Is this meeting really necessary?”
3) ______. Cut that time
in half and think of how much more might be achieved. And that will be just as
true when people return to the office as it is when they work from their kitchen
table. The pandemic could provide a wake-up call on meeting futility.
The
best habit developed during the pandemic has been flexibility. 4) ______.
And with it, the curse of “presenteeism”—the idea that, unless you are
constantly visible, you are not working. Self-isolating workers have shown they
will happily get on with their work, even when not under the eye of their boss.
A
survey of personnel chiefs by a research firm found that 65% planned to allow
employees flexibility on their working arrangements, even after vaccines have
been distributed. They predicted that around half the workforce would want to
return to the office, for at least part of the time. Permitting this
flexibility makes perfect sense. When lockdowns end, many workers may relish
the chance to escape from their homes and see their colleagues in the flesh. 5) ______.
And if they decide to work at home on Fridays, they will no longer feel as
guilty as they might have done before the pandemic. The office can be a refuge,
not a prison.
Employers
will also take advantage of the new flexibility. 6) ______. Handling a combination
of remote workers and freelancers will require managers to acquire new habits.
The key will be to develop “empathic leadership” that understands the varied
working conditions of team members. This might involve sending small gifts; at
the start of the lockdown, some employers sent slippers to their team so they
could feel comfy (mentally as well as physically) working from home. 7) ______.
A.
They will be
even happier if they can arrive at 10am one day, and 8.30am the next, if that
suits their domestic requirements.
B.
Being fully
virtual has forced us to reconsider how we meet and collaborate.
C.
Firms will
likely change the way they scale up their operations, relying far more on
freelancers, contractors and vendors than on full-time employees.
D.
The concept
is simple, especially for a global company that works across multiple time
zones: work doesn’t happen at the same time for everyone.
E.
The ritual of
the daily commute and the standard working day has been abandoned.
F.
As employers
begin to think about what it will look like to return to the office, employees
should consider what habits they’ll want to continue when the day comes to
return to their desks.
G.
Research
suggests that executives may spend 23 hours a week in meetings.
H.
When workers
headed home during the first lockdown of March 2020, they probably thought the
break would last for a month or so.
I.
Contacting
workers should not be a matter of a rigid schedule but rather friendly,
informal contacts.
J. Or managers may have felt the need to look busy, prompting them to call more meetings than before.
IV Fill in the gaps with the prepositions from the list. Look through the text and check your answers.
up; up; from; on; under;
of; of; on; for; from; in
1. Many managers keep
other participants waiting as they try to wrap ____ the previous meeting.
2. If mangers get rid ____the
needless meetings, productivity should improve.
3. Firms will likely
change the way they scale ____their operations.
4. Many workers thought
the lockdown would last ____a month.
5. Self-isolating employees
often work ____their kitchen table.
6. Some new working
habits stem ____managers.
7. ____average in 2020,
employees were working 455 hours a year more than their contracted requirement.
8. Employers will also
take advantage ____the new flexibility.
9. When lockdowns end,
many workers may want see their colleagues ____the flesh.
10.Self-isolating
workers can get on with their work, even when not ____the eye of their boss.
11.The pandemic could be a wake-up call ____meeting futility.
V Comprehension check. Mark the sentences as True (T) or False (F). Correct
the false statements.
1 Habits
form slowly and are difficult to change.
2.
Office workers in Britain have developed new habits since lockdown began.
3.
Knowledge workers are people who work in education.
4.
Studies show that employees tend to work less than they used to.
5.
There is a requirement for employees to work two hours more than their contracted
working hours.
6.
The overtime is necessary in times of lockdown; it allows to have more
productive meetings and video-calls.
7.
Some managers feared that employees working remotely would be less motivated,
enthusiastic or hard-working than in the office.
8.
Many managers chose to closely monitor their teams and have more meetings than
before.
9.
“Zoom fatigue” became a new problem that many managers faced.
10.
Effective time management allowed managers to quickly switch between online
meetings without having to keep participants waiting.
11.
Managers may spend 23 hours a month in meetings.
12.
The pandemic allowed employees to avoid daily commute and be more flexible.
13.
Flexibility is a welcome change for most office workers.
14.
There is a belief that unless employees are not visible, they are not working.
15.
Most self-isolating workers need the attention of the boss to get on with their
work.
16.
Even after vaccines have been distributed, some executives plan to allow
employees flexibility.
17.
When lockdowns end, many workers may hate the idea of leaving their homes and meeting
their colleagues.
18.
After the pandemic employees would not feel guilty if they decide to work at
home.
19. In future firms will likely rely more on freelancers
and contractors than on full-time employees.
20. “Enigmatic
leadership” is an approach that understands the varied working conditions of
team members.
VI Vocabulary focus. Follow the
link below. Study the words and word combinations using flashcards, check your understanding,
practise their spelling.
Check your knowledge in the test. Play matching vocabulary game (match
words to their definitions to make cards disappear) and save the planet from
asteroids by typing in correct
words.
VII OVER TO YOU. Discuss the questions with other
students:
a)
What
new habits can people form during the lockdown? Which of the habits may remain
even after the lockdown is over?
b)
What
good habits can people develop working or studying from home? What habits can
be bad?
c) Have you
developed any new habits during lockdown or remote studies? Which of those
habits do you want to keep after the pandemic is over?
