Culture In A WFH World
Photo by Med Badr Chemmaoui on Unsplash
As we continue on our long, meandering path out of the pandemic, one thing that (I believe) is here to stay is the idea of Work From Home (WFH). In fact, if anything has seen a tidal shift over the last two years, it’s the very idea that WFH can be a viable practice.
Yes, I realize that many folks had been practicing the concept for some time prior, but it really wasn’t an accepted practice before the pandemic.
I, for one, was never a fan. I simply didn’t believe that the idea could work, mainly because - I’ll admit - it didn’t work for me personally. So, I assumed it couldn’t possibly work for everyone else. I also worried about the cultural implications of not having the entire team together, physically in a single space, lest we miss out on the organic, dynamic learning and feeding off of each other that happens in an office environment.
But the pandemic changed that, that’s for sure, at least in terms of my first concern (that it didn’t work for me and hence). I think WFH is here to stay now and, unless the specific role calls for it, it’s not going to go away for the medium term at least (and quite possibly longer than that).
But I do wonder to what extent it ought to be embraced within an organization. While I do fully buy into the idea, I don’t believe 100% WFH makes sense.
The core issue, I think, is cultural, as in:
How do you develop a consistent, cohesive culture without people physically working together?
How do you pass on those stories and lessons that are an intrinsic part of your organizational fabric without some form of an apprentice model, explicitly or implicitly?
How do you assimilate new employees into the organization’s way of working without them experiencing it via other colleagues?
How do you ensure that practices, behaviors and ideas that are considered optimal for the organization are experienced and, hence, learned?
Yes, some of this can be done by Zoom. Some of it can be written and communicated. You can share case studies and make a point of celebrating the “good” behaviors through town halls and regular meetings.
But I don’t think that’s enough. It cannot all be done virtually.
There’s no way to get around the value of seeing someone do something, to be able to walk over to their desk and ask a question, to be able to see, experience and learn from body language and all those non-verbal cues that are so essential to our ability to communicate effectively. (Not to mention, to be able to provide for those serendipitous experiences that can only happen, well, serendipitously.)
I appreciate that the buzz right now is all about permanent WFH, but I happen to think that’s just today’s rage, so to speak. The pendulum has swung from one end (pre-pandemic) to the other and for now, conventional wisdom is abuzz with how to make permanent WFH work.
I get that but I also think the pendulum will swing back in due course. Not to 100% back in the office - I don’t even believe that makes sense anymore - but to some sort of optimal hybrid balance.
Because the cost of no (or minimal) physical interaction and learning is simply going to be too steep.
