1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: used by the world's most successful people to get so 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: much out of their day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imba. 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: I'm an organizational psychologist, the founder of behavioral science consultancy Inventium, 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: and I'm obsessed with finding ways to optimize my work day. 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: Today's episode is another mini episode, and I am focusing 7 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: today on thinking about what does the future of work 8 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: look like post COVID and I there are three things 9 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: that I've been thinking about. So a couple of months ago, 10 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,520 Speaker 1: I was sent a meme that asked the question who 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: led the digital transformation of your company? A the CEO, 12 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: B the CEO or c COVID nineteen. You can probably 13 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: guess which answer was circled, and you may have seen 14 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: this meme yourself. Now courtesy of COVID nineteen. We're now 15 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,919 Speaker 1: six or seven months into the biggest experiment ever run 16 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: on remote working, and some people have thrived. Hello introverts, 17 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: while others are desperate to get back to the office. 18 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: Hello untrusting managers. Now, while every organization is different, here 19 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: are three of my predictions about how we might work 20 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: in the future. So, firstly, I think that asynchronous communication 21 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: will trump synchronous communication. And by asynchronous communication, I mean 22 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: communication that doesn't have to happen at the same time, 23 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: so things like email or working on a collaborative document 24 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: like a Google doc, as opposed to synchronous communication, which 25 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: is things like meetings and phone conversations and things like that. 26 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: So a recent Gardener poll showed that forty eight percent 27 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: of employees will likely work remotely at least part of 28 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: the time after COVID nineteen, versus only thirty percent saying 29 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: that they'll work remotely pre pandemic. So whereen more remotely 30 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: comes with many benefits, such as eliminating time spent commuting, 31 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: being able to spend more time with your family, and 32 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: also wearing pajamas to work. Let's not forget about that benefit. 33 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: But many workplaces have simply switched face to face activities 34 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: into virtual ones. So this is why we're experiencing death 35 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: by zoom. And according to research by Microsoft, virtual meeting 36 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: fatigue is indeed a real phenomenon, which sets in at 37 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: about the thirty minute mark. I recently had Git Labs 38 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: head of Remote Darren Murph on how I work. You 39 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,359 Speaker 1: can go back a few episodes to listen to that one, 40 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: and he pointed out that we are hardwired for synchronous 41 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: synchronous communication from a very early age at school. So 42 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: he said to me that synchronicity is the default for 43 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: a lot of people because it feels productive. It makes 44 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: you feel like you're contributing meaningfully to the organization. But 45 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,639 Speaker 1: these types of meetings and ad hoc interruptions are massively 46 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: disruptive to the bottom line. It's really difficult to get 47 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: into a state of flow and make meaningful progress on 48 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: any type of work if you're constantly being interrupted, is 49 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: what Darren spoke about. So instead organizations need to default 50 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: to asynchronous communications such as email and as I said, 51 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 1: collaborative documents such as Google Docs. When you've got a 52 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: bias towards asynchronous communication, which is one of the sub 53 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: values at git lab, it allows for more inclusive chorus 54 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: of voices to contribute to a project, is how Darren 55 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: described it, and it also means less interruptions. Now, the 56 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: second thing I think is going to be really important 57 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: in the future of work is building a workplace community 58 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: is going to become super important. So most people haven't 59 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: realized that they don't Rather, most people have realized that 60 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: they don't want to be in the office all of 61 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: the time, but nor do they want to work from 62 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: home one hundred percent of the time. So the new 63 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: normal will most likely involve a hybrid model where work 64 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: location is highly flexible. So in the past, having a 65 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: central office where people gathered was key to building a 66 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: work community and culture. Now that work is more flexible 67 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: and most probably staying that way, organizations need to think 68 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: about how to build a strong sense of community within 69 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: teams and across their entire company given that they can't 70 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: rely on a central office doing this. So instead of 71 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: believing that co location is key to community, the importance 72 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: of intangible things such as shared values become more important 73 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: because when people share values, it helps breed connections to 74 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: each other, and employees who lack this feeling of being 75 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: part of a community are more likely to look for 76 00:04:55,240 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: work elsewhere. Okay, a final prediction, which is the death 77 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 1: of perceived hierarchy. So something about remote work is that 78 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: it is the great equalizer. We are all working from 79 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: our studies or bedrooms or living rooms, and we're all 80 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 1: just a face on a screen with a view into 81 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: our personal worlds. No one can sit at the head 82 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: of the table anymore. So leaders who have embraced the 83 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: meshing of their personal world with their working persona have 84 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: really flourished through during this time. They've been able to 85 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:35,239 Speaker 1: build high quality connections such as what Professor Jane Dutton 86 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,080 Speaker 1: describes with their team, and these high quality connections lead 87 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: us to feeling more open and confident and alive. When 88 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: organizations do move back to the office, at least in part, 89 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: leaders need to deliberately maintain these connections and be mindful 90 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: of signals that they may indicate moving back to the 91 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: strict hierarchy, so instead, deliberately embrace the inclusivity it is 92 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: bred through the remote environment. So while it's tempting to 93 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: return to the way things were, I think that leaders 94 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: who embrace these positive changes that COVID nineteen has given 95 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: all of us are going to be the ones that 96 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:15,280 Speaker 1: really thrive in this new working world. So that is 97 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: it for today's show. If you like today's episode, maybe 98 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: share it with someone that you think might also find 99 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: it interesting. And a big thank you for everyone that 100 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: has left reviews for How I Work on Apple Podcasts. 101 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: You're all awesome. It really does make my day. Reading 102 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: your reviews and kind words that you have to say 103 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: about the podcast. So thank you so much and I 104 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: will see you next time.