How important are your connections at work?
Chats in the hallways, quick catch-ups in the kitchen, informal debriefs between meetings – these interactions with colleagues matter, as much for our career progression as for our wellbeing.
Assuming remote and hybrid work models are here to stay, what does this mean for the relationships we form at work? What can we do to maintain connection with our colleagues when our paths cross less frequently, and less easily. How can we facilitate wellbeing 'in the workplace' when – for those of us who are able to work remotely – our place of work has no fixed address?
Last week on ABC Radio National Life Matters, Hilary Harper explored these and other questions in an interview with Dan Woodman, Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne, and Wellbeing Outfit's Jono Nicholas.
17 min | ABC Radio National Life Matters
Broadcast on 24 August 2022
They also discussed:
How our work patterns and workplace relationships have changed over the past couple of years, and what the 'new normal' might look like. (01:05)
The psychological context for some of the things we've been experiencing, and why many people are still reluctant to return to shared spaces. (05:07)
Building wellbeing into organisational structures, and the importance of agreeing boundaries for what is and isn't flexible when developing 'social contracts' within teams. (06:35)
How leaders can engage their people and get everyone on the same page for how they work and spend time together. (15:00)
If you'd like our help creating a culture that facilitates connection and supports wellbeing at the organisational, team, and individual level, please let us know. The Culture Series is a great place to start, or please contact Carolyn Morey to arrange a time to discuss your requirements.
“We talk about flexible working, but my advice to leaders and teams, is you actually have to work out when you are inflexible; what are the boundaries of flexibility?
Why? Because you don’t want people coming in and out of the office saying:
‘I've renegotiated my domestic arrangements – my partner's picking up the kids, doing drop-off, dinner and sport – and now I'm here in the office and no one seems to be here, or they've got noise-cancelling headphones on. I just feel really lonely.’”
– Jono Nicholas
P.S. If you're in Sydney next week and would like to be in a room with your professional and industry peers at APAC's largest workplace and workforce transformation event, we'd love you to join us at the Future Place REwork Summit 2022 (7–8 September 2022).
Jono is speaking on day two of the Summit. See the full list of speakers, and use this code for a 10% discount at registration: REW10SPK
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