Working for an organisation that has long offered flexible work arrangements, our recent experience being forced to work from home for an extended period of time has thrown us some interesting insights why this option wasn’t more widely taken up in the past.
Going Back to the Office. Wait, Will We?
Working for an organisation that has long offered flexible work arrangements, our recent experience being forced to work from home for an extended period of time has thrown us some interesting insights why this option wasn’t more widely taken up in the past.
In the early 2000’s, I worked with a team which was spread across Europe. My boss did not care about where I worked from as long as our agreed timelines were met. As an inexperienced and somewhat entitled 20-something, I of course took full advantage of his trust and screwed up brilliantly a few times before I realised that I had to re-think my work and reorganise my workday altogether.
Fast forward nearly 20 years and the offer to work from home turned into an enforcement for many of my friends and colleagues. Most people in the organisation I now work for had to quickly get used to doing their work from their home offices, tackling technological, logistical but also personal challenges. Technology and daily logistics are easy to deal with compared to debunking the myth that someone working from home is not actually working.
The benefits of working from home are being talked about in spades: Less time in transit with thousands of other commuters, less money spent on the daily food hunt around the office, more time with family and for exercise routines.
For those lucky enough to be able to do their work from home, the desire not to go back to ‘normal’ grows and with that there’s opportunity to reimagine work and life altogether.
As a Culture Practitioner I have a deep interest in mindsets, behaviours, and the conditions for change. I am curious about what will remain, what will grow and what we will see reducing when the restrictions come off. It is no secret that what happens when the pain eases compared to how we may have painted our new, changed future often do not match up. However, when the desire for change grows beyond perceived benefits of staying the same that is when the shift happens.
One of the teams I work with starts their weekly meeting with the following question: What will you miss about this time when it goes back to normal? The whole team talks openly about dreams and possibilities for future working, which has sparked a healthy conversation about people’s individual needs and actual feasibility. Next to figuring out a new way forward together, a wonderful side effect is increased empathy and understanding for each other.
One of the team members, who describes herself as ‘happily introvert’, said she is now able to think things through and hence provide higher quality work. She used to get distracted in the office and felt she was constantly running behind and delivering poor quality on her work. Her openness and the conversation with her colleagues helped her come up with a way forward: To plan her week out in advance, blocking regular time slots for home office and – as we call it – immersion, so that the team doesn’t schedule office meetings over the top.
Her boss on the other hand cannot wait to get back into the office because he thrives on the fast-paced nature, noise and direct input from people. He does however recognise that even he needs some time to reflect and get stuff done without distraction. The team agreed that he has been more present since he was forced to work from home, which was great feedback for him.
Another thing to think about is how we increase connection when we do opt for virtual meetings. I do not believe for a minute that face to face can and should be replaced 100%, but face to face does not equal quality of presence and the feeling of connection. What helps though, and is free for everyone to practice during and post COVID-19, are listening and curiosity. What kind of work and world could we shape if we decided to get better at that?
Francesca Varney Loch-Poowong District
Reprinted from justcommunitysg newsletter with permission
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