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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 a 17-min interview with Dan Woodman, Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne, and Wellbeing Outfit's Jono Nicholas.

We're operating in a disrupted, high-risk environment. With this comes uncertainty, and with uncertainty comes stress. 

These are obvious statements, and they show up in workplaces in a variety of ways – from the pervasive, unspoken frustration between colleagues with different comfort levels around time spent in the office versus WFH, to tense interactions between those who do as they're asked "for the greater good" – wear masks, follow safety measures – and those who choose not to. 

It seems everyone wants someone to do something different to what they're currently doing. 

In 2019, the World Health organisation classified burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress. It affects workforces globally, and it's on the rise.

While the enormous uncertainty we faced during the pandemic heightened people's experience of burnout, it also magnified concerns that existed in the workplace long before COVID, as distinct from people feeling generally stressed or spread too thinly. This is because the main causes of burnout are rooted in organisational culture rather than in an individual's ability to cope – and as an organisational problem, an organisational response is needed.