After consecutive pandemic years, companies and their employees are grappling with the consequences of disruption. Most notably, a once-in-a-generation pandemic coupled with social strife, geopolitical conflict and other factors has helped usher in an unprecedented reprioritization and restructuring of the workforce as people reimagine their professional lives in light of their lived experiences during the past 24 months.

Uncertainty has abounded for businesses in the past 24 months. Whether they adapted to operational transitions, supply chain disruptions, or hiring challenges, unpredictability was par for the course. Assessing this unpredictable business landscape, The New York Times notes, “at companies large and small, new and old, public and private, 2021 was a year that played havoc with expectations.

Team leaders, mid-level managers, and company executives share a unique challenge in 2022: connecting with their employees is more onerous than ever before. Remote and hybrid work arrangements are now ubiquitous in many sectors, often boosting employee morale and enhancing retention but making it more difficult to develop collaborative communities forged from trust and experience.

There has been no shortage of digital ink spilled about the merits and pitfalls of remote work. A seemingly unending surge of worker surveys, scientific studies, pundit prognostications and C-suite demands have coalesced around the one intractable truth — nobody seems to agree if remote work is a productivity boon or bust. To be sure, today’s companies are highly motivated to understand this dynamic.

As the leaves begin to fall and the season changes, it’s a reminder that this challenging, disruptive and unprecedented year is already coming to a close. It also means that leaders will be assessing their teams, evaluating their strengths and limitations to improve their capacity in the year ahead. After a pandemic year, these evaluations will be more complicated and multifaceted than ever before.

For many people, work was redefined in 2021. Whether employees navigated a remote work environment for the first time or managed new tools associated with accelerated digitalization, the way work was accomplished – and what even constitutes work – looks different than it did a year ago, and it will continue to evolve in the year ahead.

As businesses emerge from the recent pandemic, it’s more important than ever that teams be productive, efficient, and engaged. This is especially true as companies make challenging decisions about the future while grappling with the repercussions of the past year. For instance, a Gartner survey of company executives across multiple industries found that 82 percent plan to offer flexible work arrangements moving forward, including remote and hybrid work opportunities. The benefits are evident.