Like many, we’re thrilled about all the hybrid work experiments underway and hopeful that a better design of work will emerge from them.
Yet, we’ve also noticed two trends that may be worthy of your attention.
- An inadvertent neglect of in-person time with those outside of operational networks. In these cases, in-person time is being used only to connect with those with whom we already work.
- A focus on tasks at the exclusion of relationship activities when together. In these cases, in-person time is being centered on work accomplishments without investment in strengthening connections.
Sadly, these trends end up reinforcing the siloes we all worked in when remote and/or limiting people’s shared sense of purpose, growth, and belonging so vital to retention and engagement.
What can you do?
If you see either occurring on the teams you manage, here are some things you might want to try:
- Include just one simple social question or activity in your business-as-usual meetings.
- On a monthly basis, carve out time to work together on something other than immediate business needs (you know, like leadership development😊).
- Organize a quarterly volunteer day for people to give back together, in-person.
- Give employees $5 cards to grab an in-person coffee with others outside of their team.
We hope this helps!
As always, reach out if we can be helpful to you as you continue on the path of igniting exceptional performance at your company.
The HAVEN team
