Ben, your piece reminded me that as a teenager, when I’d head to work at the Gap, at a fish fry restaurant, even to my job at a literal beach as a lifeguard, I would think “I am never going to find a job I like”.
As I got older, I realized how important the relationships and ways we worked made certain jobs incredibly wonderful and made the tougher parts of the job not only bearable but meaningful. I’m still friends with many of the crew I worked with in my mid-20s. We all worked hard, we all went out to happy hours (my dad’s advice of “never skip a happy hour” is one that even after quitting drinking 5 years ago I still try to maintain), and I think most important of all, we all went into the office.
So my question: do you think that work culture can exist in organizations that are fully remote?
Jeremy, great question! It's hard, but not impossible. A previous job I had we were fully remote, but always found time to meet face to face at least quarterly. For some, this worked, for others, they needed more. What I found to be useful was my attempts to try and infuse as much "social" into our work meetings as I could. For example, starting every meeting, even if it took 15 minutes, with personal updates or stories wasn't the most efficient use of our time, but it made people feel more connected. Is this a workaround? Absolutely! But I don't see us ever really going back to "the way it was before," and that has a lot of good and bad consequences.
Excellent piece. Important message! Thank you. Check out my recent post on another systemic source of workplace stress and burnout: https://paultshattuck.substack.com/p/the-perpetual-hunger-games-why-you
Thanks, Paul! This is a great piece.
Ben, your piece reminded me that as a teenager, when I’d head to work at the Gap, at a fish fry restaurant, even to my job at a literal beach as a lifeguard, I would think “I am never going to find a job I like”.
As I got older, I realized how important the relationships and ways we worked made certain jobs incredibly wonderful and made the tougher parts of the job not only bearable but meaningful. I’m still friends with many of the crew I worked with in my mid-20s. We all worked hard, we all went out to happy hours (my dad’s advice of “never skip a happy hour” is one that even after quitting drinking 5 years ago I still try to maintain), and I think most important of all, we all went into the office.
So my question: do you think that work culture can exist in organizations that are fully remote?
Jeremy, great question! It's hard, but not impossible. A previous job I had we were fully remote, but always found time to meet face to face at least quarterly. For some, this worked, for others, they needed more. What I found to be useful was my attempts to try and infuse as much "social" into our work meetings as I could. For example, starting every meeting, even if it took 15 minutes, with personal updates or stories wasn't the most efficient use of our time, but it made people feel more connected. Is this a workaround? Absolutely! But I don't see us ever really going back to "the way it was before," and that has a lot of good and bad consequences.