The "New Normal" Won't Just Happen

Yesterday I went back into the office for the first time in over a year, and it was quite an experience and so I thought I would try and write something down about it. 

TLDR

The new normal is likely to be a blend of home and office working. This will challenge existing norms ranging from dress code to team cohesion. What needs to be done?

• Consciously think about the changes and communicate the approach before its too late
• Allow time in diaries for serendipity to do its thing
• Nurture the existing connections between people, and work out how to build new ones

If we don't do this, I fear offices will become soulless places where we go to sit on Teams calls, sat next to people we used to know well.

Background

As part of the new norm, we are switching to "Hybrid" working - a couple of days in the office a week to collaborate and a couple of days at home. This switch means I lose a luxury I've had for a while, and almost take for granted, which is a desk of my own. It's nothing fancy but has my stuff on in, and some storage for the priorities in life, like tea bags and snacks, as well as in my case, a plant, which thanks to some secret and mysterious plant water had survived and thrived.

As part of transition, I needed to go in and clear out my desk, and that activity is what triggered this adventure, and blog post.

Before

First off, before the big day itself, I had to find my stuff. Obvious things, like security badge, headset, laptop charger etc weren't that different to after a short time at home, but there were some new things to find too, like my smart shoes! In fact, do I even need them...?

This triggered a crisis of sorts as to what should I wear. I'm not normally someone who worries about that, as I have/had an office uniform, made up of smart trousers and shoes, shirt and jumper. But for the last year, I worked happily and productively in warm comfortable clothes more suited to walking and hiking. What will others be wearing...? What am I allowed to wear....? What is the "New Normal"?

I copped out and went for my uniform, but this setting of expectations and standards is an example of something that I think workplaces should be thinking about in advance of employees returning.

Similarly working patterns, meal breaks, food and drink provision. These things will all feel very different between home and an office, and without some thought, the contrast may cause some disruption and unsettle people.

The Big Day

To start with, this felt like a comfortable pair of slippers you'd forgotten you had, and then wore after a break. A bit odd, but very quickly felt like they had never been away. I am lucky that my commute is about 30 minutes through the Peak District, and was great to see what had changed, and what hadn't,

Arriving at the office, though a bit quieter also felt the same, but once in side, it all felt a bit odd. Beside the obvious masks, floor markings and hand sanitiser stations, the office felt different, almost like it was hibernating.

Rooms that would have had a hundred or so people in now had one or two. Corridors where chats would have happened were now empty. Kitchen areas for those oh so cliched water-cooler moments felt lonely.

I had arrange to meet a colleague in there, and we'd booked an hour for a chat, almost out of habit, but I'm very glad we did. As the rest of the time, we had done what we did at home, we had filled our days with many meetings, meaning I didn't get chance to talk to my other colleagues in the room.

So, even when we are back in the office, we will need to give some space in our diaries for "The Magic to Happen", and it's this collaboration/connection which is the thing I seem to see consistently as the reason people what to return to an office. Without some thought, the returning is going to be an anticlimax at best, and a culture breakdown at worst.

Homeward

As I drove home, I thought about the lovely people I'd seen in the office, and how great it would be to see them again, and the people I'd not seen. And I'm lucky to work in the same team for 7 years now, with people who have been working together for 20 years or more. This has given the time to build team spirit, camaraderie, trust, and in a lot of cases friendships that will hopefully last for years.

But that led me to think about the new people who've recently joined our team. We've work with some people now, for hours a day, for months, that we've never met in person. As we are not big video camera users on Team's calls, there are people I don't know what they look like, but would recognise their voices in an instant.

In this new world, how are we going to make time for them to make the connections to turn colleagues into friends? It's fair to say, this won't happen by accident, and I'm concerned that workplaces will drift towards a collection of cubicles where people sit to interact with people not there, rather than the people they are physically located with. This is key to turn workplaces into interesting, lively and welcoming places to be, rather than sterile transactional locations to sit and work.

Summary

The "New Normal" is not the same as going back to the old office, just part time. Working remotely and connecting with people is going to be different. Different in a way we've not really experienced in our working life, as the pace of it is so rapid.

This should be something that is thought about in organisations and workplaces, as without it, some of the wonderful things in the office will be lost, admittedly, in exchange for shorter commutes and home cooked lunches.

I hope however with some effort, that adjustment can be made easier, the connections maintained, and in that way, everybody wins.