The Office Chronicles Special Episode: LEGO Workplace Symposium 2022 (Part 2) - Finding a Strong Purpose to Return to The Office, No It’s Not “Culture”
Be a fly on the wall in two hot topic discussions that took place in the LEGO Workplace Symposium:
- What is the purpose of the workplace?
- Hybrid headaches over the past year
You’ll listen in on groups of executives from many large companies like Microsoft, Netflix, Unilever, Spotify, Ikea, and Booking.com discuss a range of topics about finding a compelling purpose for returning to the office and how to minimize the speedbumps that come with hybrid work.
A recurrent theme within the discussions is that hybrid work and returning to the office is forcing companies to be more intentional with what in-person work looks and feels like.
Tune in to reflect on the many different ideas being thrown around the room answering the question: how can we make the workplace work harder for us? You’ll also hear interesting ideas about How to recreate on-site experiences as off-site experiences.
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Timestamps
[00:30] Hot topic discussion(1/4): What is the purpose of the workplace? What is our end goal?
[01:02] Is the purpose of hybrid work to provide flexibility or to cut costs?
[06:07] Have people always wanted hybrid work or do they want it because of the pandemic?
[09:06] How hybrid work changes the face of society (and the responsibility that comes with it)
[10:07] “We build culture in the office” is a weak purpose for in-person work (how to be deliberate with why we meet in person)
[12:10] Consequences of not having a hybrid option
[17:47] “Build the experience you want to be part of, and they will come”
[19:43] The risk of hybrid work and the shifting power dynamic
[23:08] How hybridity is affecting retail businesses
[25:33] Hot topic discussion (2/4): Hybrid headaches
[26:50] Lessons from experimenting with hybrid over the past year
[30:03] How remote work steals your “reclaimed” time
[31:46] Why do some people never want to return to the office again?
[34:13] How do we recreate the coffee machine connection in hybrid mode?
[38:36] Why do people work where they work?
[42:01] Will we always feel like a little dot on the screen in remote meetings?
5 Key Takeaways
- If there is a clear purpose explaining why work needs to be in-person, hybrid, or remote - it’s much easier to get the buy-in of your team to comply with the rules. You have to give people something to believe in.
- People have likely always wanted the flexibility that hybrid work offers. However, the pandemic empowered them to seek what they want.
- Having beautiful offices is not a compelling enough reason for people to want to return to the office. You have to think of what experience they want to be a part of. Think of it this way: what kind of experience will make people feel the urge to return to the office?
- When mandating a specific number of days per week for in-person work, your reasoning has to be grounded in data or else people will see through it. If you expect people to come into the office 3 out of 5 days, you’ll have to explain why it’s 3 and 2 or why it’s 3 and not 4.
- The power dynamic between employees and their employers is shifting. People have more choices and feel more empowered now. The shifting power dynamic poses a major risk for employers who don’t adapt.
Links
The Workplace Leader Podcast
Connect with Kursty Groves:
Follow The Office Chronicles Linkedin page for more information, to share an idea for an episode or start a conversation around any f the topics covered in the show.