{"id":5185,"date":"2021-04-25T21:41:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T01:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/?p=5185"},"modified":"2021-07-07T14:52:27","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T18:52:27","slug":"the-future-of-the-hybrid-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/the-future-of-the-hybrid-office\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of the Hybrid Office"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Benq, Remote vs. Hybrid<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It’s time to go back to the office. Some of us are already there and others, like me, will be back sometime in 2021. A lot has changed since 2019. Now we all know what a fully remote workforce looks like and most of us know how to host a Zoom meeting (though it’s still surprising how many times I need to tell people to mute their phones). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his annual letter to JP Morgan shareholders, Jamie Dimon<\/a> says that he learned that “Performing jobs remotely is more successful when people know one another and already have a large body of existing work to do. It does not work as well when people don\u2019t know one another.” I learned these lessons over years of working in hybrid environments. When I was at AIG, my entire team, including my boss and my teammates were all based in Charlotte North Carolina while I was based in New York. We learned that we needed to meet in person a few times a year to build trust and agree on what to do. These conversations were imperative to getting everyone on the same page. These were the times to have disagreements about what to focus on and what could be postponed. We left these meetings with a plan. Then we could all travel to our own locations and get our work done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Transactional work can be done remotely, but relationship work and innovation need to be done in person. As much as we try to use technology to do remote work, there’s a human aspect of seeing a person face to face and building a relationship that’s imperative to doing productive work. Think about one of the most human experiences\u2014sharing a meal together. The famous celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain built his career sharing meals throughout the world, showing that no matter how different we are, we can all connect through food. He said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m proud of the fact that I\u2019ve had as dining companions over the years everybody from Hezbollah supporters, communist functionaries, anti-Putin activists, cowboys, stoners, Christian militia leaders, feminists, Palestinians and Israeli settlers, to Ted Nugent,\u201d after his dinner of noodles and beer in Vietnam with then-president Barack Obama. \u201cYou like food and are reasonably nice at the table? You show me hospitality when I travel? I will sit down with you and break bread.<\/p>Anthony Bourdain, Obama, Bourdain Chew the Fat in Hanoi<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Think about the opposite extremes\u2014the most transactional experiences\u2014calling customer support or paying for your meal at Mcdonald’s. Think about how different your discussion would be if you shared a meal with this person before making the transaction. You’d have a lot more empathy and trust for them; however, it would take a lot longer to get your webcam fixed or get your cheeseburger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During COVID I met two managing partners of consulting firms who helped me understand what work was essential in the office. First I met Steve. Steve is the managing partner of a technology consultancy that specializes in Financial Services. When I asked him when things were going to come back to normal, he said, “I don’t think they’re ever going to come back to the way they were. I have a business analyst who’s video conferencing with the client every day and it works fine. They’re not going to want to pay to fly this guy to their site and put him in a hotel to get essentially the same level of work.” Clearly, Steve’s customers don’t need a lot of in-person work from his business analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I met up with my friend Rich. Rich is the managing partner of a strategic consulting firm that specializes in change management. I told Rich about my conversation with Steve and said, “It must be nice not to have to travel anymore.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, “Actually it’s not. While I enjoy seeing my family more, the inability to travel is causing a lot of problems. I live in Boston and one of my clients is in New York. We did a huge change management project for them but I have a sinking feeling it won’t be adopted. I wasn’t able to have dinner with the client and know what they really thought about it. I couldn’t chat with people at the water cooler and get the inside scoop.” So while Steve’s transactional travel wouldn’t come back, Rich’s travel was essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Physical space is also key for innovation. Jamie Dimon pointed out that innovation is crippled by remote work, saying, “Remote work virtually eliminates spontaneous learning and creativity because you don\u2019t run into people at the coffee machine, talk with clients in unplanned scenarios, or travel to meet with customers and employees for feedback on your products and services.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, I visited the MIT Media Lab when it moved into its new building. The architects explained how the building was designed to make sure that people from different departments would randomly bump into each other as often as possible. It was designed with openness and energy that brings people together. Clearly, the building was an essential part of the lab’s innovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A woman from IBM said, \u201cI work at a company with hundreds of thousands of people and half of them work from home. Did you ever think about creating this building as a virtual experience?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The people on stage we befuddled and didn\u2019t know how to answer. Finally, they just said, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a final thought on working during the pandemic, expectations have been lowered. For me, trying to do work while kids are stuck at home is a big challenge<\/a>. Last year, I had a meeting with a colleague who joined a video conference Zoom covered in sweat after finishing her Peloton ride. These things won’t be acceptable next year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My friend Jim explained how working from home is supposed to work. For the last 2 decades, he worked remotely as a sales support engineer. As a manager, he had to interview a lot of people remotely and many of these people would work remotely as well. People would come to Zoom meetings dressed in nicely tailored suits\u2014or at least what looked like nicely tailored suits from the waist up. Then he\u2019d ask them to stand up to see if they were wearing suit pants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not fair!\u201d I said, talking to Jim wearing a sports jacket and jeans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCalm down Rob. This was before the Coronavirus. I just think it\u2019s important for people to dress like they\u2019re at work even if they\u2019re working from home. It shows a level of commitment to the standards of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’re in for quite a change in the next year. While much of the everyday work can be done remotely, real change and innovation is still better in person. While I can’t know what the future of the hybrid workplace is, I know it will be different from 2019 but also very different than the work from home environment in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Matt Levine has a similar take at the bottom of this newsletter. The section head is Working from Home<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s time to go back to the office. Some of us are already there and others, like me, will be back sometime in 2021. A lot has changed since 2019. Now we all know what a fully remote workforce looks like and most of us know how to host a Zoom meeting (though it’s still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[102,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-covid","category-ideas"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8wCkz-1lD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5378,"url":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/kids-do-the-most-incredible-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":5185,"position":0},"title":"Kids Do the Most Incredible Things","author":"Robert Schlaff","date":"June 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: Kids do incredible things. Instead of trying to teach them as little adults, give them some tools and flexibility and see what they create. They may not do what you expect, but it\u2019s fascinating (and funny) to see how they think. Blake and I were watching our morning spoonful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Kids"","block_context":{"text":"Kids","link":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/category\/kids\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/dd663acb18646f997318b5f5e183e1b4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/dd663acb18646f997318b5f5e183e1b4.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/dd663acb18646f997318b5f5e183e1b4.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":483,"url":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/michael-schur\/","url_meta":{"origin":5185,"position":1},"title":"What is in a name?","author":"Robert Schlaff","date":"June 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Schur, a writer on The Office and Parks and Recreation has put some very subtle jokes about names into his work on these shows. I learned about Schur from Mindy Kaling and Amy Pohler's autobiographies. Gwendolyn Trundlebed (The Office) From The Believer: I love crazy names. It comes right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fun Stuff"","block_context":{"text":"Fun Stuff","link":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/category\/fun-stuff\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4284,"url":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/your-product-will-never-be-simple-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":5185,"position":2},"title":"Your Product Will Never Be Simple Enough","author":"Robert Schlaff","date":"July 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In a recent article,\u00a0David Pogue wrote that there is no core curriculum for people to understand technology. People often ask him \"obvious\" questions about technology that they never learned. That's probably why he wrote his\u00a0missing manual series. We're all familiar with the problems of complex technology that we can never\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Product Management"","block_context":{"text":"Product Management","link":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/category\/product-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":376,"url":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/feeding-employees\/","url_meta":{"origin":5185,"position":3},"title":"Micro-Kitchens are the Modern Day Coffeehouses","author":"Robert Schlaff","date":"March 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thinking about companies that serve free food (few companies) or coffee (almost everyone). While there are some emotional reasons companies do this, e.g., showing appreciation for workers or desire to keep them healthy, I think there are solid business reasons to do this. Providing Spaces For Lunch (or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ideas"","block_context":{"text":"Ideas","link":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/category\/ideas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/img_4170.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/img_4170.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/img_4170.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/img_4170.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/img_4170.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/img_4170.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4286,"url":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/digital-innovation-lessons-from-the-webby-awards\/","url_meta":{"origin":5185,"position":4},"title":"Digital Innovation – Lessons from the Webby Awards","author":"Robert Schlaff","date":"May 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been a while since I took a broad look at what\u2019s happening in the digital world. Conveniently enough the\u00a0Webby awards\u00a0was a wonderful conglomeration of many of the great innovations happening on the web and on mobile devices. Here are some of the big trends: Interactive Storytelling:\u00a0Many companies are merging\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4280,"url":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/lessons-from-the-first-computer-interface-e-mail\/","url_meta":{"origin":5185,"position":5},"title":"Lessons From the First Computer Interface (E-Mail)","author":"Robert Schlaff","date":"July 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Errol Morris, the famous documentary director of The Thin Blue Line and other films wrote a great piece in the New York Times called\u00a0Did My Brother Invent E-Mail With Tom Van Vleck?\u00a0(Parts\u00a01\u00a0|\u00a02\u00a0|\u00a03\u00a0|\u00a04\u00a0|\u00a05). As it turns out, Morris's brother, Noel Morris, worked at MIT on\u00a0CTSS, which was the predecessor of\u00a0Multics, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5185"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5511,"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5185\/revisions\/5511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schlaff.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}