You’re Still on Mute: Reflections on Working Digitally in the Post-Pandemic Era

Digital workplaces have reshaped how we work, collaborate and innovate – and five years on from 2020, many changes feel both natural and radical. Academics, editors, researchers and publishers have enjoyed the freedom of remote and hybrid setups, but also felt their friction.

Hybrid work: our chosen norm

Many organizations now embrace hybrid work. In the U.S., 51 percent of employees in remote‑capable roles split their time between home and office, with another 28 percent working fully remotely and just 21 percent remaining on‑site. Across the globe, the hybrid choice reflects a shared desire to tailor work arrangements around tasks and teams.

But the resulting avalanche of virtual meetings continues to throw up challenges as well as benefits – a mixed legacy of digital routines and behaviours that can now be measured, thanks to the integration of data collection into digital workplace environments. A recent study showed that the hybrid work trend is going nowhere fast, with an average of 10 hybrid meetings per week being maintained through 2022 to 2023.

At De Gruyter Brill, we’ve been doing some of our own research, asking staff to reflect on the changes that the last five years have brought.

“It may be ironic that so much of ‘working in publishing’ is digital and computer-centric,” says Heather Goss, Public Relations Manager. And it’s true – each one of us at De Gruyter Brill is, like Heather, “someone who loves to hold, collect, and read physical books.” Our fondness for the written word has not waned in the last five years of hybrid working, but we now rely more than ever on an expansive digital toolkit to bring brilliant research and ideas to life on the printed page.

Marketing Manager APAC Lervinia Swee walked us through her digital routine:

“As a marketer, my daily routine has undergone a significant transformation over the past five years, largely due to the evolution of digital tools and the rise of remote work. Previously, I relied heavily on traditional methods and had less real-time collaboration in my work.

Now a typical day for me includes:

• Logging into M365 to check emails and create a prioritized to-do list.
• Attending virtual meetings via Teams or Zoom to collaborate with colleagues and clients.
• Using platforms like MIRO and shared documents to update cross-departmental projects.
• Staying informed about global events through the De Gruyter Brill Intranet and social media news alerts.
• Engaging ChatGPT for brainstorming fresh ideas.
• Refining my communications with Grammarly for clear messaging.
• Developing customer-facing materials with tools like Foleon and Adobe Creative Suite to create impactful content.”

For Senior Acquisitions Editor History Rabea Rittgerodt‑Burke, the benefits of hybrid work also relate to our lives offline:

“I am enjoying more flexibility in when I work during the day and I can more easily combine child care and even leisure time and errands with work, because I can spread it all over the day (and night).

“I now have access to most things that weren’t online or digitized pre-2020, which helps with research and finding out about new topics, scholars, conferences, and so on. Digital meetings are the norm now, which made working globally a whole lot easier. I can schedule zoom calls with everyone at any given time of the day now and things can thus move faster and easier.

“One surprise was finding out how much I can get done in early morning hours and after dinner! When there’s a lot of concentration and quiet around me. It also helps knowing that I can get back to an issue after going for a run or something like that. I can clear my head and then get back to it with new ideas or a different strategy.”

Trainee Medieval & Early Modern Studies Felix Schaefer finds remote days boost both his focus and his health:

“Surprisingly, I find it much easier to concentrate on tasks that require sustained focus when working from home, as there are fewer distractions like colleagues stepping by (as much as I enjoy chatting with them). As someone with a chronic illness, being able to switch to working from home therefore not only allows me to avoid waves of infection, particularly in the winter months, and to shorten or avoid illnesses, but also to work more efficiently on days that require it.”

His story reminds us that letting people choose their best environment can help level the playing field.

Keeping culture alive

Still, virtual work makes informal bonding tricky. Rabea admits:

“The connection to colleagues, especially new ones (people joining in or after 2020) has been more challenging, which is due to my personal preference of only going into the office a couple of times per month. It’s harder to schedule lunches and meet-ups with everyone I want to reconnect and chat with.”

Heather concurs: “Working remotely can be quite isolating,” she says, “but there are more ways to stay connected than ever before. For a company as global as De Gruyter Brill, embracing ways to connect digitally is so important with all of our different offices.”

Content Marketing Manager Jennifer Witte adds:

“Hybrid work, with two days in the office, has become my normal at De Gruyter Brill. Our work is highly digital, with Teams meetings connecting me daily to colleagues and stakeholders across Europe and beyond. While not sharing the same physical space can sometimes make quick idea exchanges less spontaneous, we’ve built strong connections through regular virtual collaboration. I also appreciate how digital work lets me stay informed about projects happening across the company globally. And there’s real flexibility: I can visit my mother for a long weekend, work remotely on Friday or Monday, and return refreshed to the office.”

Digital workplaces have given us flexibility, focus and an ever-growing list of tools to help us get things done, but they’ve also spotlighted where human connection matters most. “Nothing can beat in-person meetings,” says Rabea, “and for every other conference I am actually very happy to leave the house. With physical books, too.”

[Title Image by akinbostanci/iStock/Getty Images]