We conducted eleven in-depth interviews with both managers (five interviews) and employees (six interviews) from different industries and company types and sizes, mainly in Mexico both also in Germany and Venezuela. On three occasions we could interview a manager and his or her subordinate (separately), which allowed us to directly compare their perceptions on the leadership situation. The interviews usually lasted between 40 and 60 minutes each and were mostly conducted via video call (four were conducted in-person), based on a semi-structured interview guideline. For the sake of anonymity, in this blog all names of interviewees have been changed.
Our objective was to explore the changes in leadership and communication behaviour that happened since remote work started to be a part of a daily basis. We particularly focused on (new) ways leaders motivate their teams, communicate within the organisation and manage different levels of productivity. In addition, Emotional intelligence and leadership styles were two topics that came up frequently during the interviews so we devoted separate sections for it. In the following blog posts, we are aiming to report some of the most interesting findings from the interview and to indicate some common tendencies that may help to draw first (nonrepresentative) conclusions.
While many interviewees felt frustrated about the pandemic and its consequences, they also expressed the necessity to deal with the new reality. The reasons for frustration varied a lot, however: One interviewee felt frustrated because her salary was cut by 15% for three months. Another one said that he usually gets bored and needs interaction with other people. In contrast, we also encountered employees who saw the advantages of the new working situation, e.g. the time saved for commuting.
In order to highlight better the individual stories behind those answers we are going to portray four interviewees (two managers and two employees) in detail and thereby focus on the leadership tasks and skills motivation, productivity and emotional intelligence.
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