Workplace 2023 can be the best of both worlds

It's not 2018 anymore. It's no longer 2020. It's time we design Workplace 2023 from the best of these prior approaches. Here's how to think this through for your workplace.

Last week, I led a workshop for a local organization. In speaking with a few leaders beforehand, it was clear to me that the organization was torn between the "old" ways of working and the "new."

Team 2018. Many long-serving managers and leaders came to cherish the culture and ways of working they had built together through the past two decades. It was a happy, productive, fully-in-office workplace where people had open door policies, ate lunch together, and would walk down the hall instead of emailing.

Team 2020. Many of their newer employees - in fact, almost half their staff - came on board during the past few years of remote/hybrid work and reliance on electronic communications. For the most part, these employees are productive, but bristle at coming in-office as much as their hybrid schedule requires, feeling that as long as they are productive, too much face-time just slows things down.

Neither team is wrong, but neither team is seeing the whole picture.

For the first team. the ideal workplace looks something like what I call Workplace 2018. For the second, the ideal workplace looks a lot like Workplace 2020.

At the workshop, employees had a robust, honest, and productive discussion. We explored the pros and cons of 2018 and 2020 working, and I challenged them to put away both of those notions and instead look to build Workplace 2023 - where the best of the traditional 2018 workplace meets the lessons of successful distributed working from the past few years to create the Best of Both Worlds.

(One way to spot the differences between Teams: When Team 2018 hears the term "The Best of Both Worlds," they probably think of Van Halen, When Team 2020 hears it, they probably think of Hannah Montana.)

So, what does Workplace 2023 look like? Well, it will differ for each organization based on the type of work, workplace culture, needs of clients, and more. Still, I think most 2023 workplaces will share some key characteristics. Here are my initial thoughts on Workplace 2023, and I'd love to get your thoughts in the comments.

1. Hybrid work. The most straightforward way to combine the best of 2018 and 2020 is to embrace a hybrid approach to work. We respect the wisdom of 2018 by ensuring coworkers have enough time together to build relationships, foster communications, and build culture. We respect Team 2020 by giving more freedom over where and when work gets done and respecting time for life. Of course, there are many different flavors of flex and hybrid, such as mandatory days or employee choice. Exciting research from Nick Bloom provides evidence that hybrid workplaces outperform 2018 and 2020 approaches.
2. Intentional communications. We need to become more clear and intentional about which communication channels work best for which types of communications. Slack and Teams Chat are really efficient for quick check-ins and responses. We need face-to-face (or something close to it) for more complex, two-way communications and for content that has an emotional component. Conversely, face-to-face is inefficient for quick or routine communications, and chats are insufficient for nuanced discussions.
3. Respect others' preferences. Relatedly, we should understand that not everyone wants to communicate according to the same set of preferences. Team 2018 may not feel comfortable with Slack and prefer phone calls. Team 2020 might prefer frictionless electronic communication. Both teams should meet somewhere in the middle. A Team 2018 manager may need to leave their comfort zone to learn and use Slack for quick communications, while reserving deeper topics for weekly face-to-face conversations. A Team 2020 employee should respect their supervisor by using the supervisor's preferred channels some of the time. (Even better, they can have an open and honest conversation about their preferences and come to a compromise they both can work with!) After all, Whole-Person Workplaces are built on mutual respect and understanding.
4. Deciding what the office is good (and bad) for. On a recent episode of Derek Thompson 's excellent Plain English podcast, he and his guest, Julia Hobsbawm , discussed this very question. It turns out that in most situations, the office is not the best place for actual individual work, but it is incredibly important as a gathering place for informal communication, building relationships, integrating new employees, and building the foundations of trust that enable effective remote work. The implications of this insight is clear - if you have a hybrid workplace, maximize the in-person days by building in what an office is good for. The days when much of your staff comes in should be filled with meetings, social time, and collaboration. If you don't schedule these, Team 2020 won't see the benefits of coming in just to do what they could have done at home - and will be justifiably frustrated about having to do so.
5. Different approaches to onboarding. Perhaps no two areas of people management are as important to building a 2023 Workplace than the onboarding of new employees and performance evaluation. New employees need to be integrated into the workplace, and this means sufficient time doing what an office is good for. It also means leveraging new possibilities. For example, one organization I know now holds small-group Zoom chats for new employees and upper management every two weeks for their first few months. This wasn't logistically possible before 2020 workplace adaptations. Further, many companies put newly hired employees in chat groups with other new employees, their new teams, or directly with their managers - even before their first days on the job. Of course, some of the fun ways teams built cohesiveness during the height of the pandemic, like online happy hours and game nights, should be continued both online and IRL.
6. Different approaches to performance evaluation. Traditional performance reviews are ill-adapted to Workplace 2023 (they were ill-adapted well before then, but that's a whole other article). In 2023, we'll never get good data from formal, supervisor-only, yearly reviews, based on static criteria, and listed on rigid worksheets - when much of our work is being done out of sight. Instead, we need to focus on continuously tracked metrics and on progress on mutually set goals/deliverables. We need multiple perspectives from coworkers, clients, and others. If we can ensure people are performing to standard (and there's no contradiction between Whole-Person Values, accommodating employees, and maintaining the highest of standards), then we can let go of when, where, and how work is done. Tracked metrics, multiple perspectives, and frequent in-person performance conversations are essential. (I wrote an article for HBR examining these issues - also see chapter 7 of the Whole-Person Workplace).
7. Remaining (ahem) Flexible. My favorite quote, perhaps of all time, is from pioneering work-life researcher Tim Hall, who professed "What we need are less rigid forms of flexibility." The world, the virus, technology, and employee preferences will continue to change. Adaptable organizations understand this. In the short-run, it is important to provide certainty and stability, but even the best plans often crash into a new set of circumstances. Workplaces that value employees from both Team 2018 and Team 2020 build a workplace of trust. They will be many steps ahead when faced with the need for further changes. Incidentally, this is why I am skeptical of companies that have declared "everyone in the office forever" (a solely 2018 approach) or "everyone can work remotely forever" (a purely 2020 approach). Workplace 2023 means a workplace that can adjust for 2024 and beyond.

So, back to the workshop.

After our great conversation, the organization decided to put together a working group with members of Team 2018 and Team 2020 to work on balancing the need for in-person culture-building with remote and flexible ways of working. Because this organization embraces Whole-Person Workplace values, I fully believe they will figure out a Workplace 2023 approach that works for them. They will get the Best of Both Worlds.

This newsletter is based on research for and content from my recent book,?The Whole-Person Workplace: Building Better Workplaces Through Work-Life, Wellness, and Employee Support, as well as news and commentary through a Whole-Person lens.?ScottBehson.com.

#workfromhome?#remotework?#hybridwork?#workflexibility #workplace2023

Finally, if you are proud of your organization's orientation to flex, or want some feedback for your journey, you might want to contact?Flex-Friendly Certification. Our user-friendly process can help you assess your flex and earn certification as an employer who embraces it - helping you?build your employer brand?and stand out in a job market in which flex/hybrid work is a top priority of job seekers.