Faced with this return to reality, some have adapted their behavior and adopted “taskmasking”. Concretely, this is defined by mimicking the effort, to appear occupied or invested, even if what we do has little real value. Imagine for example this falsely concerned air taken by some by looking at their computer, or the “I am overwhelmed”, pronounced from the end of a breathtaking voice.
Beyond a simple way to protect yourself from its superiors, this method is also due to a fairly ancient vision of productivity. “”If people are forced to be present at the office, there must be a clear goal beyond the simple fact of being seen, especially if the work can be done at home“explains a human resources director interviewed by Fortune. The risk, if not, is that the message sent comes down to an equivalence between presence and productivity.
A not without risk
This habit, in appearance harmless, spreads at full speed in open-paces, according to several polls. The HR office WorkHumanin the United Kingdom, for example had put forward that 36 % of employees had already used this technique to pretend to work last summer. Videos on “Taskmasking” have also multiplied on the Tiktok platform in recent weeks.
-Economic media Forbes also looked into the subject. In his article devoted to the subject, the American magazine identifies this as a problem linked to managers, more than to employees who use this technique. “”It is enough to create a sufficiently motivating work for its employees, whose effective result produces at the end of the day rather than the presence in the office, so that the Taskmasking disappears“, describe Forbes.
Plus an elderly teleworking employee, the less he wants to continue until retirement
For employees adept at this “false productivity”, however, beware of the false good idea. By wanting to escape intensive work by pretending to be active, the deadlines are thus postponed. And the work accumulated at the last minute can then create high pressure. France TV slash Add that the psychological impact should not be underestimated because of playing a role all day in the office, which can also, ultimately, be very oppressive. Forbes Advises managers, sometimes however themselves followers of this technique, to have more regularly direct conversations with their employees, to have a precise view of their tasks of the day.
