Cultivating Culture - Lessons from Remote Work Summit 2022
"Never let a good crisis go to waste" - Winston Churchill.
Part I
My work over the past years has been to help guide organizations to become better equipped for the future. In recent years, I worked to help create a hybrid framework for a local healthcare organization. Like many organizations, it found working hybrid was both a challenge and an opportunity. This summer, I got invited to be a part of a select group of remote and hybrid advocates for the inaugural reLead Summit hosted by?RemotelyOne?at?citizenM?Capital Hill Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Our cohort was to experience the?citizenM?Hotel as a part of the remote worker ecosystem and to engage in conversations where we would share out thoughts on working remotely and the hybrid work environment. We were to challenge any held beliefs we may have individually or collectively on the topic. My first thought was, how could this experience be any different than what I had been used to when I travel? It's a hotel, and I hope they would have a quiet environment and safe and secure Wifi, but I had my VPN as a backup - it's wild out here.
By default, I take on the role of an ethnographer. Before I knew what ethnography was, I did it raw and pedestrianly. I observed how people walked into the room, who or what they walked up to, and how they held their presence—accessing how they responded when others walked into the room or if they made eye contact with me.?Are they a friend or a foe, or do they seem curious??When I frequent the library or coffee shop, I take it all in, the smell of the books or the brewing coffee, the sights, the sounds, the feel, or the vibe of the place -whether it is encased by silence or music, I bathe in it.
So, when I travel for business or leisure, I can't help but be an observer. It's one thing to vibe with others who share your same interests, but another thing to assume the duality of being present and observing from afar. I thought I would provide some cursory feedback to the hotel management. You know, "the bed was nice" (it was incredible), the service was good (it was fantastic), blah, blah, etc., etc., etc.?
This nurtured innate ability caused me to be curious about what elements I noticed that make a culture desirable to be immersed in. What I experienced during those days of convening at?citizenM Hotel?centered my thinking toward what is essential about building a hybrid culture. Here are the lessons I zoned in on during the Summit that provide insight into cultivating a hybrid culture.
The pandemic illuminated the need for organizations to shape their internal cultures to be more enriching rather than depleting. My work focuses on deepening employee relationships and shaping a culture that supports diversity, fosters equity and inclusion, and creates the environment to leverage the talents of every individual. Whether you are a formal leader or an individual contributor, we all thrive in environments that help us to grow individually and collectively.
Say what you want, but there is something to being in a room of diverse people. Seeing and experiencing diversity is especially striking for me being a person that works in the Grand Rapids Metropolitan area of the United States, where the lack of visual diversity leads one to suspect that there is a lack of diversity. The richness of cultural diversity is segregated in the community and within organizations if it exists. The summer months highlight the diversity encapsulated within ethnic festivals. One must make a deliberate and conscious effort to widen one's circle beyond those like themselves.
To begin with, the?citizenM?Hotel Washington D.C. Capitol hotel was noticeably represented by diverse staff and travelers. Of course, we are talking about Washington, D.C., but it stood out as an important element of the week. My colleagues who participated in the reLead Summit came from various backgrounds. They are remote and hybrid work leaders who have worked with top organizations and authored books and articles. We all shared the passion for advocating for remote working and the flexibility it provides.
The first lesson: diverse talent is out here; seek out the unusual suspects and cultivate existing talent.?Cultivate the right people to be in the room at the right time for the right purpose. citizenM seemed to focus on cultivating the relationships within their market area and neighborhoods. When I took a walk, I saw the representation of the neighborhood citizenM was situated in, working at the hotel.?
A while back, I had a conversation where I encouraged a co-worker to consider a role. Her narrative: I'm an older white woman in tech, and no one will consider me for that role. She was very qualified. Regarding the technical know-how needed for the job, she could run circles around less seasoned workers, who were only considered tech-savvy by leadership because of their age. Every opportunity I got where I could mention her name and capabilities, I did, whether she was present in the meeting or not. Eventually, another leader saw beyond her age and looked at what she could bring to the department that needed a particular project to be launched quickly. On the flip side of this situation, the younger workers' true talents weren't discovered. They were assigned work focused on technology that they couldn't do but had no desire to do - they, too, were typecast into roles.?
Go beyond the visual and the?typecasting of the role. The latter is such an important aspect of cultivating a culture. We all can "see" a specific type in a position, and that vision can be founded on stereotypes that lead to counting talented people out. Look to the "unusual suspects" to be a part of your workplace. Organizations miss out when an individual cannot fully contribute their talents.
Walking into the citizenM Hotel provided me with a good feeling. It wasn't just about being greeted by the employees; the whole vibe felt safe, and I didn't feel like just a customer checking in. It's challenging to articulate the feeling, but it felt like I had walked into a space that was my own. I had the autonomy to check in and not wait in line, but when I encountered a glitch, the employees assisted immediately. I wasn't familiar with the hotel, let alone the neighborhood it was situated in, but I felt like I had control and autonomy and belonged. There have been hotels where the vibe was about the points that provided you the silver, gold, or platinum membership status. You knew that you would have to negotiate perks because you weren't at the platinum level. I own my inability to have platinum status, but my point is that I didn't feel any of this from the start during the onboarding as a customer; I was a part of the culture. When I met the employees and my colleagues, they instantly introduced themselves and warmly welcomed me. No pretense. The environment that citizenM cultivated invited a friendly vibe into the space.
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This brings me to the second lesson: Belonging and Equity.?I wrote a poem I read to my students at the local community college at the end of each semester. The class is for first-year, first-generation, or returning college students. In the poem, I tell them that they belong. Despite entering a new situation and feeling like they may not be worthy or are imposters, they belong. I tell them, "You enter because you belong." The new world of work must provide a welcoming space that fosters collective welcoming and curiosity about others. Organizations must create cultures that situate the new person in an environment that sees onboarding as a team and community responsibility, even in the virtual space.
During my stay, I also noticed that individuals helped across assigned domains of work. The manager or front desk person could be in a housekeeping capacity, and housekeeping personnel could be at the front desk area. Employees demonstrated that every role was significant. This brings me to the final lesson I will share?the workplace of the future will have to be agile and flexible. Agility and flexibility in this context go beyond cross-training but includes workplace redesign. Some organizations are hoping to go back to the days before the pandemic. The post-pandemic environment can be scary for those who worked and led in a particular manner and gained esteem from their physical presence. Teams and Zoom seem to make us all the same size (as someone who is 5'0, I appreciate the turnabout).?
Employers can look at redesigning how they work to build agile and fiscally responsible organizations. Our present situation allows us to rethink how we do our work. Before the pandemic, many employers discussed creating more agility in their operations and adopting more technology. Now might be the time to leverage the new landscape to create a future organization that is human-centered and connected in both human-to-human and technology-to-enterprise workflow.
Remote work offers individuals a measure of autonomy and flexibility to manage their work and personal life. I can't tell you how many times colleagues who are parents talk about now being able to attend their child's event when in the past, they had to juggle a commute that created a measure of anxiety as to whether they would be able to attend. Or a colleague who found working remotely from a co-working facility or a location like?citizenM?helped them create a measure of balance in their lives.
As a remote work and hybrid workplace advocate, I cannot say there aren't some challenges that organizations must work out. New things need to be evaluated, tested, and revamped. When anything new to an organizational culture emerges, a critical eye toward understanding its adoption is essential.?Jack Nilles coined the word "telecommuting" in the 1970s as an introduction to working remotely. Although remote work has been with us for a long time, the volume of individuals globally participating in remote work has yet to increase. It's a new shift for us all and an opportunity to rethink how we are shaping our culture.
I have listed some resources below to learn more about leveraging the terrain of working remotely. Thanks to my fellow remote advocates and collaborators, it has been great getting to know you and your work.?Kaleem Clarkson (He/Him),?Mary Brown,?Tammy Bjelland, CPTD,?Chris Dyer,?Dethra U. Giles,?Tara Vasdani,?Nikhil Paul,?Skye Osunde (Idehen),?Hampton Clarkson, and?Shelby Wolpa! Check out these folks' LinkedIn profiles and follow them to learn about their work.
Furthering Resources
Check out these links to learn about citizenM hotels?and their?global locations.
Check out Steelcase's, New Solutions for Hybrid Work
Remote Work Revolution - Tsedal Neeley
Connection Culture (2nd Ed.) - Michael Lee Stalled
Remote Work - Chris Dyer and Kim Sheppard
Post Corona, From Crisis to Opportunity - Scott Galloway
Inclusive Leadership Development, Workplace Culture, & Community Management Expert | Founder, Facilitator, Coach & Consultant | Dynamic Speaker & Moderator
2 年Beautiful article - such a pleasure meeting you!
Senior Vice President, Talent & Diversity
2 年Thank you for sharing this my friend!!!
Great article Mary!
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2 年So well done!
Chair, Mayo Clinic Engineering | James J. Renier Chair in Medical Device Innovation and Fellow, University of Minnesota Technology Leadership Institute | Technology Humanist | Futurist | DEI Advocate | Joy Promoter
2 年Mary Brown, I love this article! The comments about being an observer really resonated with me. As a cis-gender, white male, I am often unfortunately unaware and oblivious to what should be obvious. You remind me to observe without judgment and to try to see what others see. I also am interested in the poem you share with your class. Mark