Observing and chatting to colleagues helps us gain valuable knowledge. How do we make that happen in the post-pandemic workplace?

An impromptu, and quite delicious, Thai takeaway last night with friends prompted an interesting conversation around remote working and its impact. It's not that any of us disagreed with remote working, indeed we all thought it was a grown-up way of getting the job done whilst balancing the other half of life that is children, dogs, Waitrose (because you can't secure an Ocado slot (Other delivery services are available), and, "just stuff".

?PwC set up “virtual worlds" for their new recruits ?being onboarded remotely, so people "still had a chance to bump into each other” and form important bonds

Amongst lots of positives and negatives, we discussed the workplace as a 2nd Higher Education Institute. A place that was different from the pure theory that had often been studied at University. This was a live environment, a place where those theories could be tried, practiced and in some cases failed. And in amongst that was the discussion. How is the next generation going to learn? Sure, online Learning Management systems (LMS) are getting funkier and more sophisticated but learning by Osmosis, on the job, real time, how will this now happen?

Popular learning models have tended to suggest that 20% of our learning about a job comes from?observing others , although newer research (post 2020) suggests?that figure could be even higher .?

I have always been a critic of the level of trained managers who actually know how to manage in the UK. Gone are the days of nurturing future managers through additional responsibility, supervisory or Team Leadership alongside proven programs. Now it's who has been here the longest, and who does the job they do better (more of that later), or even worse, besties. The worry is now that our future leaders will lack social contact and empathy which underpins a good manager. They won't be able to read a colleague's body language or tonality might get lost on a Teams, Google Chat, or Zoom call (Other platforms are available). It's those small noticed moments that make a big difference to recognising a good management style over a slightly less trained one.

A recent survey by Slack’s research consortium Future Forum showed that 42% of workers felt?working from home gave them fewer chances to learn ?from colleagues.

So what is the answer. I truly believe the office still has it's place. It goes beyond just training. Mental health and wellbeing have been well documented. I loved my travel gap on the way to and from work. My local friends, and even work colleagues who share the same commute all have guidelines for bumping into each other. It's ok to sit alone, to plug in headphones, to go to a different carriage or to excuse yourself. It's their travel gap as a well as mine. So suck it up and get back in the office. Who would have thought becoming a TWAT (Tuesday, Wednesdays & Thursdays) was good for you and your career.