The office, as we remember it, no longer exists
Surveys report that the majority of workers are looking forward to being back at the office; however, feedback coming directly from the workers states exactly the opposite.
This could mean that we simply don’t know what we want. Change is hard. People spent a lot of time and money in order to set up a remote work area that meets all their needs. Most don’t want to go back into their cubicle or a post-COVID version of it.
The office as we remember it no longer exists (in the COVID compliant parts of the country). I spoke with a friend of mine who works for the city of New York. Some of their colleagues are back at the office this week and they were looking forward to seeing each other in person. However it was a totally different experience. New building. New office. New rules. At least the new building was closer to the subway.
We spent a year and a half looking into each other’s faces and homes, meeting each others’ children and pets. Even though the big talk was about feeling disconnected I believe we have developed a new notion of what intimacy means. If we think about it, our screens are much closer to our faces than most people in our working environments ever were. We learned how to be face to face — to read mirrored faces without the body language.
Now back at the office, even though we are in the same conference room, we are now 6 feet apart and half of our faces are covered. It is a bit eerie. We have to relearn how to project our voice — get ready for some sore throats. We can’t really have any private conversations because anyone in the 6-foot radius will be able to hear us. Are we going to go back to our devices for those? Makes me question why we are in the office in the first place then. And the commute.
That’s a whole different topic. Commuting via public transportation these days requires extra vigilance. Any time I step on the platform I try to breathe at 40% capacity and carefully look around in search of those who are not wearing a mask. Then once in the car, I will change cars if someone walks in without a mask. That won’t be an option once more people start using the train. Also, do we remember the peak hours? How is that going to work now?
Another element that I find is being overlooked is that in the past year and a half we have been granted an opportunity to authentically respond to the challenging news in the safety of our own homes. When we are home, if we are lucky (though let’s not forget about the abusive households), we have the freedom to respond to the challenging news in an authentic way. Being able to openly respond to any type of a stressful situation is in itself healing. Suppressing those responses leads to emotional and sometimes physical explosions in the most unpredictable times
If we are at work, for example, our reactions are limited to what is 1) socially appropriate and 2) won’t get us fired. We have to keep a lid on and let the steam out once we are home or in a safe environment. And the longer the lid is on, the higher the pressure gets, and the more intense an explosion is to be expected.
Employees may need to make time to acknowledge the news, but can employers be expected to foster a safe space for the conversation about what is happening in the world?
In the past year most of us had a chance to dive deeper into understanding the social and environmental issues of our communities. I am not willing to let go of it. It is my duty to continue learning every day. But in order for me to process the new and often devastating facts I need the freedom to be sad, angry, numb, or whatever new emotional or physical response I discover that day. This past year has been so intense it forced us to be okay with our bodies releasing stress through tears or punching pillows.
What is going to be your company’s punching pillow?
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