No more watercooler :(
Liam Forde
Many people prefer to work from home, cutting commute time, travel costs, etc, and preliminary figures show that productivity for most, is equal or better than from an office. Some have even opted to move homes to a lower cost area with a better lifestyle.
Unfortunately it's not all a rosy picture, a significant proportion find the isolation or constant interruptions at home taxing and stressful, productivity and mental health both decline.
Companies are already reducing office space and creating more flexible working practices, so higher levels of working remotely are here to stay.
We need to adapt
Humans are social beings. Belonging, feeling supported, and giving support are critical for long term human health and wellbeing. A 75-year study by Harvard shows social connections make us happier, healthier and we live longer.
And the quality of those relationships is more important than just the quantity. Having diverse, novel, fun and connected relationships beyond just family is important. Clubs, sports, meetups, etc. give our lives richness and offer us different perspectives on life. They are good for us.
Moving into a more digital world means less time in an office and less ‘real’ human interaction, but even more so, those informal, spontaneous moments around the watercooler, canteen, or hallways won’t exist to the same degree.
We all have ‘watercooler’ stories. Chance meetings, having a laugh, a chance to take a break and get away from the desk. The watercooler provided us hydration (critical for nutrition), movement (critical for physical health), time away from the desk (reducing cognitive load, important for flow and productivity) and social interactions (critical for mental health), these factors are essential for high performance.
But is there ‘economic’ value in these informal spontaneous interactions? Perhaps to answer this question we should look at the creative industry, and Pixar comes to mind. The workplace was re-designed by Steve Jobs to foster and accelerate collaboration and creativity. John Lasseter, former Chief Creative Officer, said “I’ve never seen a building that promoted collaboration and creativity as well as this one”. Creativity is enhanced when we are relaxed, can take our mind off the problem, and have novel experiences - like chance encounters at work. The watercooler thus becomes a place that could not just fuel wellbeing but also fuel creativity. Creativity is one of our biggest levers for competitive advantage and future success.
Before the pandemic, coworking spaces were on the rise. A diverse group of people with different ideas in close proximity, coworking was all about casual connections. These random connections created huge value for their members. New ideas, new friends, and novelty. Another ‘watercooler’ environment.
A 2012 study at the University of Michigan found that researchers in the same building are 33 percent more likely to collaborate than coworkers who occupy different buildings, and those on the same floor are 57 percent more likely.
Studies of flow, the optimal state of consciousness described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, describe a number of flow triggers, such as focus, challenge (struggle), release (taking our mind off the problem), and recovery. And besides the obvious sleep, exercise, and nutrition, having positive, diverse social connections is essential.
Clearly we need to re-invent the ‘watercooler’ environment in a virtual setting to regain the benefits.
How might we do that?
Some of our clients have some great ideas!
Randomised buddy system
Virtual break times
Random virtual rooms
Video game competitions and collaboration challenges
Online clubs, fitness, meditation, yoga, etc. to bring people together with similar interests or to learn something new
Managers randomly reach out to employees and ‘check-in’ (vs check-up)
Caution
Before you Zoom Bomb (a popular term for having back to back Zoom type meetings) your employees, remember that productivity, flow, and feelings of empowerment also need uninterrupted solo focus time.
Many managers we talk to have complained that they are too busy with online meetings to get their own work done, and then feel as if home life is competing with work. Boundaries become blurred, have no time for self and they risk cognitive overload, stress, and burn-out.
Balance is key
A good formula for flow is to cycle through times of solo focus, then choose periods of novelty (doing something new or different), being social (without an agenda), or recovery (taking non stimulating breaks) and then back to solo focus.
The new normal
Remote working will be the new normal, and we need to adjust, adapt, and reinvent our ‘workplaces’.
Where organizations shouldered the majority of workplace environmental factors, now the employees need to take a bigger role. Some will see this as an exciting adventure and some will see it as a heavy burden. Their lives were not set up to accommodate the new normal. Space, childcare, location, infrastructure, technology, access to nature, and access to services or support all play parts.
Now organizations need to find individualized solutions not just an ‘in the office’ design. This requires new skills and careful handling as the workplace blends into people’s homes.
One thing they must not forget is that there is “no more watercooler”, yet they need to ensure those random, novel, fun, ‘sideways’ moments that often fuel connection, trust, collaboration, and creativity stay alive.
How are you handling it?