What Does Your Office Say About Your Culture? Thoughts on the Future of Hybrid Work

Clickbait alert: this article has no answers.

Bear with me a sec: It has no answers because when it comes to what the workspace will look like moving forward, I don't know. No one does. Ask yourself the same question in the context of January 2021. I'm willing to bet you could have never seen where you are at now!

What this article does have are the themes and questions that have come up consistently through my chats. Business development is about conversations. I talk to prospects, colleagues, clients, and business allies dozens of times per day. This gives me a unique perspective on what leaders and employees are thinking about the future of work.

Here's what I do know.

1. The Ancillary Costs are a Breaking Point

Parking is expensive. You would be surprised how much this actually comes up.

But it's not just about parking. One of the most common topics we hear is the ancillary costs of heading back to the office. Gas, vehicle wear and tear, transit, daycare, eating out because I was too rushed to pack a lunch... all of these have just been accepted as the "cost of doing business".

Now that most people can work just as effectively from home, is absorbing these additional costs worth it? From what people have told me, no.

Any hybrid strategy needs to take this into account. There are many reasons people will come to the office, and there are functions best done in person. Finding this balance is the million-dollar question.

2. People are in Different Points in Their Life

What's really interesting is not just the math side, but where the conversation always leads from there. People are in different points in their life.

Let's say you are a C-suite exec, maybe in your 50's with kids that are out of the house. Childcare wasn't as big an issue when you were raising kids because the cost of living then was sustainable on a single income. How empathetic are you about your staff's child care needs today?

I had a conversation with a senior manager at a large national organization who straight out said, "If we are forced to come back, me and my entire team will quit." They were all caring for dependents. One person I chatted with who matches the exact profile above cares for his elderly parent.

We know that the work environment can be structured to support and enrich people's personal lives. Why would anyone give this up just to satisfy some antiquated view of what being an employee should look like?

3. Your Office Space is Your Culture Made Physical

This is the core of the issue. Your office space is your culture made physical. If your culture is about collaboration, flexibility, and trust, but your office is a sea of cubicles, you are sending a mixed message.

This is why your space must be a resource. If it's not, change it.

One person I cold-called recently made an amazing point: She asked, 'Is my house a cubicle farm?' She has a desk in the spare bedroom, but she also does remote work from the living room, writes reports on the patio, and listens to Zoom meetings in the kitchen.

The point is that space can have multiple functions. Activity-based work isn't a new concept, but the changes in technology and thinking in the past two years have really highlighted its strength. If you have a great-looking space that can perform multiple functions on demand, you increase the value proposition and make it a resource available for when people are in the office. As I mentioned, people are willing to come to the office for the right reasons, so why not make your space a resource that supports them?

4. Leaders Need New Skills

Leaders need to arm themselves with the skills to manage effective teams more than ever.

I did 18 years in the Canadian Army, and the most poisonous leadership trait I ever saw was, "I suffered then, so they need to suffer now". We can agree that managing and leading people has changed significantly with the pandemic and the hybrid environment. Earlier you needed new tech skills to work remote; now the need is to adapt new soft skills.

Business leaders I talk with are well aware of this need. What you need to remember is that so are your staff. The value proposition of a job has changed radically, and by setting yourself up for success with new skills, you can help ensure you meet these challenges head-on.

Final Notes

The future workspace is an open question. Hopefully, the short points I have brought are helpful; they are all issues that have come up multiple times in my conversations.

Guiding these conversations has been happening since before the pandemic, and it's possible to diagnose your needs for the hybrid environment. This doesn't mean anyone has all the answers, just that we can help you get there.

At the end of the day, you, the leader, will have to decide and act.

Now for the best advice given to me in my military career: Leader's lead.