Landers on Work After the Pandemic

A year ago, COVID-19 shifted everyone into a “new normal.” One domain that was particularly affected was the workforce. In a Twin Cities Pioneer Press article titled “Heading back to the office after working from home during the pandemic? Here are some tips for adjusting,” Richard Landers, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, shares what his recent research says about remote work.

 

Before the pandemic, Landers had begun research on trying to recreate non-verbal and subtle aspects of human communication via virtual reality. When the pandemic hit, it confirmed the importance of Landers’ research and its impact on virtual communities. More recently, Landers conducted a study of 500 participants to see how work habits and productivity had been affected by the pandemic. Each week, participants, made up of a diverse array of fields across the U.S., reflected on the pandemic’s effect on their work. Results showed that although respondents may not have been very familiar with technology such as Zoom or did not have access to it, they did not report feeling less productive. The main challenge with remote work? Losing the non-verbal communication that employees are accustomed to, non-verbal communication that Landers' research on virtual reality explores.  Will some sort of VR world replace Zoom in the future?