BOSTON - Feb. 19, 2021 - Lynn Bentley, President of Knobull announced, "After nearly a year after the pandemic began, working or attending school from home presents unique challenges that don't always have streamlined solutions.

According to a recent survey conducted by Knobull, common challenges include limited or reduced face-to-face direction, social isolation, and distractions around the home. Additionally, more and more are going out of their way to increase their visibility."

Adapting to remote work. The study looked over the strategies students are implementing to make sure they stay visible and discovered a majority are feeling overlooked in their new work-from-home normal. From the survey:

Most working-from-home are feeling unnoticed. While some felt just slightly or moderately overlooked, more than of students working from home during the pandemic said they felt either very or extremely invisible. Women were more than twice as likely as men to feel extremely invisible while working from home. A majority of people working from home, more than 3 in 4, agreed that it takes extra effort to get noticed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students are getting less time with instructors. The average length of time a student goes without talking to their instructors is days. The gaps in time is and it's recommended that successful students build standing check-ins with their instructors 3-4 times per week, either via email, chat, call, or video.

It's hard to set boundaries while working remotely. Fifty percent of students report working extra hours while working remotely during the pandemic, and on average, they're putting in an extra hours per week. The survey show working remotely leads to and more time spent in meetings as teams struggle to build communication rhythms while being so far apart.

Students feel inspired to do better work when their boss and/or instructors recognize what they're doing. Those who don't feel invisible while working remotely are more likely to perform better. They're also more likely to be satisfied with their productivity (50%), more likely to be satisfied with levels of engagement (25%) and more likely to be satisfied with job security (25%).

Use the tools they need for success. According to participants, the top 2 most effective ways to remain visible are offering new ideas (50%) and helping colleagues with work (25%).

Make time for purposeful connections. This one of the most important aspects of ensuring they feel valued for the work they're doing, especially while working remotely. This can include answering questions and reviewing performance, or listening to new ideas, and helping instructors and/or boss implement new strategies.

Bentley concluded, "Our study shows that once you know how to communicate digitally and have tapped into your colleagues ideas, set a cadence for these touchpoints and stick with it."