People Are People

Welcome to Edition 5 of our 2024 Newsletter! If you are a regular, you might notice that I've moved things around a bit.

But don't worry if you only come here for the productivity tip video. It's still here - just scroll down to the bottom.

Making In Person Count

This week I am in Scottsdale, Arizona to join the 2024 Design Summit of the 100 Year Ed Tech project. It's a terrific initiative. We are looking 50 years back and 50 years forward to go deep on how lifelong learning will change. We will try to figure out what we need to do at a societal, organizational and individual level to help create the change we want to see.

I'll write about what I have learned from the summit itself in the next edition of this newsletter, but just the act of getting on a plane and flying to Scottsdale has helped me think about what it means to physically gather in the 2020s. Getting together in person can be fun, but is it still useful from a work perspective? If it is, why?

Organizations are getting better at implementing flexible work, and in the process, many of them are understanding that traditional reasons to gather and do work together don't make sense anymore. Need to brainstorm? Do it virtually and you may well yield better results. Looking to increase engagement? Don't rely on in person. What about productivity? You'll be just fine if you stick with flexible work.

Then there is the simple reality of the effort needed to get together physically. Let's face it, commutes are tough. If we want to spend time with other people, we must invest time and money to get there. We need to sacrifice sleep, and we will make the environment a little worse every time we step in the car or jump on a plane. Over time, most of us need something more than "my company requires it even though I think it's dumb" to keep us engaged.

Despite all this, most smart companies recognize that there are very important reasons to get together physically. They do so for two main reasons:

• Physical gathering can deepen existing human connection
• Physical gathering can create new human connections

Both of these are extremely significant because they result in more highly engaged, productive employees, and can create new opportunities for innovation. So let's take a quick look at each of them.

Deepening Existing Human Connection

My mother and I live over 4000 miles apart, but thanks to incredible advances in technology we can connect every few days at almost no cost, often using high definition video conferencing. I'm almost certain that we talk more often than when I lived 10 miles away from her.

Despite this, at least once a year my family and I spend significant time and money to fly across the Atlantic and stay with her in her home. We do this because being physically around her deepens the connection.

Of course, with family, physical touch can be hugely important (even the best VR cannot give you a hug from your mum), but it turns out that there is much more to proximity than that. When you are physically close to people on a regular basis, small acts of friendship and kindness follow naturally. If you are making a cup of coffee for yourself, why not make one for your friend or colleague at the same time? If you are going to lunch, why not invite the person at the next desk to join you? Plus, when you are physically close to others, you don't just spend time doing things purposefully with them, you also just spend time together without purpose. Both of those things add to a feeling of connectedness.

Now, of course, it's absolutely possible to create deep human connections purely virtually. Millions of people who have fallen in love online can testify to that. But, in general, virtual worlds help all of us create a large volume of shallow connections - while physical proximity helps us round out and deepen them.

Creating Different Human Connections

In a few minutes, I'll be heading to the networking event that kicks of the design summit I mentioned here in Scottsdale. I'm an introvert, so I'm slightly terrified about it. But one thing I know is that I'll make connections with humans I've never met before, and I would probably not have met those people in any other way. Not only that, but every person I meet will have something in common with me - a desire to help other people learn and grow in the future of work.

But, I hear you cry, "Can't you can achieve exactly the same thing in a virtual conference, particularly if it uses the latest metaverse tech?" I think the answer to that is a qualified no. It IS true that social networking and metaverse technologies can massively increase the number of connections we make, but it is also true that those connections are often different to the ones we create in real life - both in terms of who the connections are with and the nature of the connections.

Think about how infrequently you randomly encounter someone in real life that you have previously met online, and it should be clear that the circles are different.

As for the nature of the connections? Well, that's different because in the virtual world, we can instantly disengage the moment our attention drifts. In the physical world, basic politeness keeps us chatting until there is a mutually agreed time to part. Those first few seconds or minutes often result in materially different relationships going forward.

What this Means

The ramifications of all this could fill an entire book (and it's on my to do list to write that book) but I believe this translates to a fairly simple set of principles that organizations should consider when designing work environments.

1. Digital Core, Physical Surround - Most (up to 90%) of day-to-day office work is done as well or better in flexible work environments. So, focus on building environments where people can do amazing work virtually, and then make them even better with physical connections on top.
2. Start with Connection - Once you strip away the fluff, being in an office or any shared space is only about deepening existing connections and creating new ones. So lean into that, and make sure that everyone feels the benefit. Does your office, shared space or event encourage serendipitous connections? Do you provide meaningful opportunities for connections to deepen? If that is not happening, you are probably missing the mark.
3. Make In-Person Count - As knowledge workers, most of us now know we can get as much (or more) done on our own schedule in our preferred location. So, our companies need a different approach, built around a simple question. "How can we make every commute worth it?" Our companies can accomplish that by reducing the number of required in-person activities, and making sure that every "being there" activity is worth it.

You Say You Want a Revolution?

A few weeks ago I was sent a copy of Lori Mazan 's great new book - Leadership Revolution: The Future of Developing Dynamic Leaders - and was invited to interview her for our Humanity Working podcast. Lori is the co-founder and chief coaching officer of Sounding Board

Lori's background makes her an interesting guest right away, but when I read her book, I was struck by her analysis of how organizations really work, and the role leaders can play in changing organizational dynamics.

As ever, this interview is available on the Humanity Working podcast (find it on your favourite podcating platform). But if you would like to watch the full video, you can do so here:

Relearning How to Meet

Yes, meetings suck for most of us, but it's a cop out out to suggest that all meetings have zero value. In this week’s video we look at how to create meetings that matter for all the participants. My virtual twin is on vacation for this one - let me know what you think of the new look and sound!

Thanks for Reading!

I'm Paul and I'm the CEO and Co-Founder of BillionMinds. If you are worried about how prepared your employees are for change - change in work environments (like hybrid and remote), business strategy, or even technology changes, you should talk to us. Just reach out to me here on LinkedIn and we can get a call scheduled.

As for this newsletter - please let me know your thoughts on it in the comments (I try to respond to everything)

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