“I used to like hanging out in the coffee room.”
“I used to enjoy sharing the office with coworkers.”
“It used to be great running around the office for meetings.”
Working from home is no longer a temporary solution to managing during a pandemic.
As the world continues to make adjustments to digitalization and the new post-pandemic world order, a growing number of companies have shifted to keeping their workforce remote, indefinitely.
While this can come with some practical and financial benefits for the company, keeping a workforce at home can have other implications for the employees and teams.
Not everyone has the same work preferences.
Some people rely on the social, relational or physical nature of being in a work environment with others.
Simply put, some people may experience difficulties adjusting to working from home on a long-term basis…or indefinitely.
If you find yourself managing a business or team of remote workers, what can you do to create positive outcomes in these situations? How can you nurture the remote work environment to help each team member feel a sense of fulfillment within the remote work environment?
Fortunately, using the Psychological Astrology system, you’re able to identify what motivates someone at work as well as the conditions that help them thrive there.
There are 25 Psychological Astrology profiles, and each one identifies a person’s unique motivations and behaviours. I’ve highlighted three of those astro profiles here. While each of these three astro profiles can ultimately work from home, remote working can present certain challenges for them.
If someone on your team has been facing work from home challenges, you might recognize them in these descriptions.
Or…it may help you better understand why you’ve personally faced difficulties working from home..
Understanding each profile’s unique motivations is a great first step to helping create an environment in which you and your coworkers are able to thrive.
The Hedonist (Venus-Jupiter)
The Venus-Jupiter astro profile really appreciates the social element of the workplace. Like the name I’ve given this Psychological Astrology profile suggests, they are often quite addicted to “‘feel-good moments.” At work, this means they enjoy water cooler gossip, lunchtime with coworkers and even meetings. Basically, any opportunity for gathering people together delights the Hedonist. They thrive when people are gathered together with the opportunity for direct interaction.
When they’re at work, they crave anything social rather than being isolated at their desk.
In the work from home environment, they can find staring at their screen and having online meetings can be quite boring. That’s because online versions of meetings and online gatherings lack the social element. Most online meetings are straight to business. There’s no casual gossip in between presentations or chatter while getting coffee during breaks.
To solve this, I’ve seen some companies have “online lunches,” specifically to keep their workers social. Everyone gets their lunch and eats together while chatting and gossiping, nearly the same way as they would in person. The rule is that they are not allowed to talk about work. I’ve seen this work quite well for anyone with the Venus-Jupiter profile.
Having these online social gatherings built into the workdays balances out the work and brings back the social element. When they’re provided that social outlet, Hedonists are able to be much more enthusiastic about being at work even when it’s at home.
The Warrior (Mars-Jupiter)
Someone with the Mars-Jupiter astro profile likes to remain active throughout the day. Basically, movement is the key word for this Psychological Astrology profile. Whether at work or in their after work hours, they like to feel that they’re on the go. That means that they like the physical nature of going to meetings, rather than having them online at their desk. As work has become more digitized and meetings have become remote and online, this transition can be a real downer for people with Mars-Jupiter.
If you’re managing someone with a Mars-Jupiter profile on your team, how can you deal with that?
A simple answer could be building in person client or team meetings into their monthly schedule. However, someone with Mars-Jupiter also needs to feel active on a daily basis.
Offering your workers fitness classes is something I have seen many companies successfully implement for their employees. This gives workers the chance to opt into movement sessions with their coworkers to interact and move together at different times throughout the day. These can vary from pilates and yoga classes to something even more active.
During lockdown, activities were restricted as people could go outside. Now there are more possibilities for keeping active again, even if you continue to work from home. If you offer flexible “activity breaks” throughout the workday schedule, this allows someone with Mars-Juputer time to get up from their desk and feel “on the go” again. They can take a break to go for a run, or run errands, between work and meetings. This active break allows them to feel more active and fulfilled in their workday even when faced with working from home.
The Caretaker (Moon-Saturn)
Someone with the Moon-Saturn profile is more emotional, and the relationship aspect of work is what is most important.
Similar to the Venus-Jupiter profile, they don’t like feeling isolated at home at their desk. However, for someone with a Moon-Saturn profile, being at work with others isn’t simply about being social. They seek that emotional feedback. They want to make sure that their coworkers like them, that they are okay and doing well.
“Do you still like me?”
“Are we friends?”
“Are you still doing okay over there?”
These are the sorts of things that they want to know, but can’t really ask directly. Being in person, they are able to perceive this even without asking questions. It’s that social-emotional feedback that they’re looking for at work. Unfortunately, all of that is hard to do over Zoom calls and emails. It’s difficult for someone with a Moon-Saturn profile to get a sense of how others are feeling.
These individuals are also concerned about the wellbeing of those around them and thrive when they are able to feel like they are offering help. Do you need more rest? Do you need help with that project? If asked over Zoom and email, people are more likely to say that everything’s fine. They don’t need help.
When they’re not able to offer help, they feel a bit like they aren’t doing their part. They want that opportunity to help and the feedback that they’re really doing a good job for other people.
To manage an employee with this astro profile, social coffee breaks or social lunches online offer an opportunity for that emotional connection. The same way that these online gatherings help someone with a Venus-Jupiter profile (Hedonist) feel socially connected, these social gatherings give someone with this Moon-Saturn profile the chance to build relationships and check in on coworkers. While this time provides the opportunity for everyone to relax and unwind from the other parts of the work day, they will really thrive from these moments lending their ear or offering direct help with something.
If you are leading a team at work, this can be very useful for helping you manage your team.
Want to go deeper into astrology profiling?
If you are interested in using Astrology for profiling human behaviour and produce a breakthrough in your team dynamics, click here to join us in our upcoming session!
A profile has many layers and diving deep into each nuance helps you understand how they show up in the context of your life and career.
The course is the perfect place to learn more about your own unique mix of PA profiles. Identifying how it impacts your life negatively, while also recognising your strengths, enables you to actually tap into it as a professional asset.