Many tell me that they have to do their “regular work” before and after each business day or on weekends. And their concept of “time management” has been terribly skewed by the demands of others to grab time on their schedules to ensure some level of continued coordination or collaboration.

Recent surveys indicate that the number of meetings in corporations has increased by double digits since the beginning of Covid. While the meetings might seem to be a bit shorter, there is a very real concern by many that a normal “flow” of work can no longer be accomplished effectively.

As I interact with clients, I see the strains they are experiencing as they try to use the creative side of their brains, while somehow trying to compensate for the loss of regular, tangential interactions with others that used to resolve issues in a moment in a pre-pandemic office environment.

It may well be that some managers who are well-developed in the concept of knowing almost everything about their businesses are compensating for the absence of that knowledge and inadvertently requiring more meetings to stay “in the know.” Others might have already been adept at micromanaging and are using technology to leverage that need. Either way, it is having profound consequences on the workforce. The statistics are staggering.

I spoke with a client the other day who talked about remote work, including its advantages and downsides:

“I definitely don’t miss the commute – spending more than an hour in the car every morning and every night was something I never looked forward to…” 

 And then the voice quietly trailed off, plaintively followed by, “But this, this stream of video calls and the inability to get any work done – I never dreamed of this form of punishment.”

Recent studies show that any time of distraction at work can cost us over 23 minutes of productive time. When we finish one meeting and then click into another, we might well experience a sort of negative multiplier effect of distractions – one video call ends and we spend half of the next one regathering our thoughts in order to concentrate on the new subject.

The meetings for many have become the job – not the job itself. It’s no wonder that we are experiencing an era of burnout and resignations.

There are a number of ways every leader can work to reduce this “noise” in our workplace, but I suspect that some sort of further organizational intervention may still be in order. It will take a unified approach at every level – especially among senior leaders.  Here are some ideas that have emerged with my clients:

1. Create “meeting free” mornings or afternoons. Try it out two or three days a week. And make sure each person on the team abides by the commitment. Everyone, including the boss, must do it, or no one will.
2. Specify “calling hours” for each manager. An open video link invitation to everyone on the team for one hour a day, for instance, could allow “drop-ins” to enter a video meeting with that particular manager to check in on specific issues that might answer questions, and facilitate collaboration and coordination. Use the “chat” function to send the questions or concerns to the addressee.
3. Try the phone! A quick call can resolve issues just as quickly as in the past.
4. Keep a computer or written log of your questions or concerns and then save them to use on a regularly-planned meeting or “calling hours” to share them with the concerned parties.
5. And most of all, realize that we do indeed have adults working with us. The technology-enabled office opens up possibilities for greater trust of those with whom you work. Let them do their jobs, make their mistakes and have their successes. Then celebrate with them later!

One thing I realized a long time ago is that I was not meant to serve a meeting schedule, but to serve those with whom I work. That is truer than ever in today’s technological world.

The post So Many Video Meetings – Try These Five Alternatives appeared first on gothamCulture.

The events of the past 8 months have only added to the complexities of life and the stress of the work environment. Employers and employees across the globe met the transition from in-person to remote work with mixed emotions. Our collective recent experiences have changed the way we work and live. And for those who admit to feeling moments of depression coupled with a shot of elation, or feelings of freedom with a side of restriction and confinement, you are not alone.

The quest for balance is one that has been discussed and sought since the 1980s when the term ‘work-life balance’ was initially coined. As new generations entered the workforce, employers became increasingly more aware of the need to help employees navigate their complex lives and their work lives in more creative and flexible ways, in order to retain them. Work-life programs have become table-stakes for employers, and have been proven to boost morale, reduce absenteeism, decrease cost, and increase overall performance.

How can leaders promote wellbeing without sacrificing productivity?

Research and practice have shown that both productivity and wellbeing are key ingredients for organizational success. The tolls of COVID-19 on our lives and what seems to be like an enduring worklife from home requires us to show up differently in preparation for these levels of productivity.

This year has been a breeding ground for unchartered territory. Organizations have been forced to pivot to new ways of working that come with their own sets of challenges and impact on productivity.

While some organizations have struggled with productivity, we are seeing a surge in ‘productivity’ amongst others. JP Morgan announced that their sales and trading employees amongst those in other functions are being encouraged to return to the office due to increased productivity slips on Mondays and Fridays. However, the Boston Consulting Group found in a study conducted across organizations that 51% of respondents reported that they maintained or even improved their productivity. This variation sheds light on a very important point: Not everyone is measuring productivity in the same way.

Having a productive day? How do you know?

At the end of a day on which we’ve attended 8-10 Zoom calls, we may feel anything but productive. But for some, productivity is defined by visibility, where it is about showing your face whether it’s in the office or on a screen. For others, productivity is defined by the level of employee engagement. And one of the most widely spread ways in which productivity is being measured is by how many hours you’ve clocked into your working day. But in today’s world of blurred lines between our personal and professional lives, a full day’s work may feel like anything but productive.

When was the last time you took a vacation?

People are now working more than ever before. According to Business News Daily, remote employees work 1.4 more days per month than their office-based counterparts; which is more than 3 additional weeks of work per year. Moreover, given the risks and restrictions around travel, people are opting out of taking their PTO. Many of us have forfeited our vacations this summer. As mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, a Zenefits’ study of 3,000 companies found that there were about 63,000 requests for vacations in April and May, which is significantly less than the 120,000 requests made during that same period in 2019.

However, spending more time doing work and showing face on camera does not necessarily mean more productivity. A Stanford study has found that productivity per hour declines when a person works more than 50 hours a week. Further, those who work up to 70 hours a week are only getting the same amount of work done as those who put in 56 hours.

Our gas tanks become depleted. 

We run out of mental and physical resources that create optimal conditions to work and be productive. Our traditional measures of things like hours spent in the office, visibility, engagement, and drop-in PTO tell us that productivity is on the rise, but these are not traditional times.

Can wellbeing be the key?

The world of work has for the most part started to catch up with the necessity of taking care of the workforce, and investing in Employee Wellness Programs. However, employees continue to cite issues with stress, burn-out, and depression. Studies by SHRM and by the Total Brain’s July Mental Health Index show that 41% of employees feel burnt out and 45% feel emotionally drained from work and that the risk for depression among U.S. workers has risen to 102% and more specifically to 305% for those between the ages of 20 and 39 as a result of the pandemic. 

And employers are taking action. Just this Labor Day, Google gave employees an extra day off as a response to the increased levels of burnout and depression amongst their employees. Other tech giants, such as Cisco, also gave their employees a mental health day back in May, where Chief People Officer, Fran Katsoudas wrote: ‘There are few places to go, people need us, and we enjoy our work. Our weeks and weekends are blurring together. Yet there is one reason to unplug: ourselves.’ Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, gave employees a day of rest in June, emphasizing that ‘health comes first’ and to ‘make time for it’ because it is these kinds of days that ‘build strength’ to get work done.

How is wellbeing being defined?

Like productivity, the metrics for wellbeing are also flawed. One of the common metrics for measuring wellbeing is absenteeism or the number of sick days taken.

If productivity is being measured by the number of working hours and wellbeing is measured by the number of days off from work, and we know that some people are opting out of much-needed PTO, then we might be drawing some false conclusions around productivity and wellbeing going up.

With people’s daily lives and habits changing, there is a need to recalibrate our perceptions and definitions of wellbeing to ones that are more holistic and relevant to our current times.

Gallup uncovered that the common elements of wellbeing that need to be fulfilled for people to thrive are physical, career, financial, social, and community elements. How employees are doing in terms of physical health, career satisfaction, economic stability, relationships, and belonging in their community will impact the effectiveness of business outcomes. Employees thriving in all five elements are 41% less likely to miss work as a result of poor health and are 81% less likely to seek out a new employer in the next year. This is interesting news.

*Image by Gallup

What we are learning is that wellbeing actually impacts productivity. 

To ensure we are productive and prepared to deliver on our accountabilities in a sustainable manner, we will not only need to invest in our wellbeing, but we must also leverage and utilize it to cultivate productivity. 

How to cultivate productivity

We clearly need to recalibrate our perceptions of productivity and wellbeing to ones more relevant to our current times. And, we need to view wellness as a means to our productivity – as opposed to two elements that are mutually exclusive.

1. Build a Life Pie. Encourage your employees to consider the 5 elements of wellbeing and assess where they are. Support them in finding ways to build out their satisfaction and quality of life in these areas.
2. Include your employees in generating solutions. Your employees are likely to have ideas of what they need to feel well and in turn, perform better. Sourcing and sharing ideas from your constituents can go a long way.
3. Build awareness of how wellbeing can be leveraged to enhance productivity. Discuss and define productivity together as a team.

Make a habit of revisiting the first two steps. If we have learned anything from 2020, it is that things can change at any moment and the only way to deal with the ambiguity is to adapt. Revisiting what wellbeing looks like in your organization can help you create the culture of adaptation organizations of the future will need to succeed.

Wellbeing makes strategic sense. It is important to maintain productivity in a ‘Work From Home’ environment and to leverage and utilize wellbeing to do so. Organizations need to get a better understanding of how their employees work to find answers that make sense to boost productivity and achieve their strategic objectives. This is not a one-time thing for your organization. The exercise of redefinition needs to be embedded into the organization’s strategy because productivity in the post-COVID era might look very different from what it looks like today.

If you are interested in learning more about how to leverage wellbeing to improve productivity, gothamCulture would be delighted to speak with your team.

Related reading: Yin/Yang Leadership: Seeking Balance

The post How Attending To The 5 Elements Of Wellbeing Will Make You More Productive At Work appeared first on gothamCulture.

Host Harrison Kim and Kate address these questions:

1. What are the most common reasons for employee disengagement in the remote workforce (are these reasons different than in non-remote workforces)?
2. What are some tell-tale signs of employee disengagement in the remote workforce?
3. What are some initiatives to engage disengaged, unmotivated remote employees, and maintain a positive company culture?

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The NCO, a U.S. Army E-8, listened intently and heard my complaints – and my venting – for long minutes.  When I finally stopped, he simply smiled and asked,

“So who are the two best bosses you’ll ever have in your career?”

Non-plussed by the question, I sat there in silence, not really knowing what to say.  By then I had spent enough time in the Army, though, to realize that a senior NCO draws on a lifetime of experience leading people.  For those open to learning, top sergeants are always ready to provide perspectives, often in the form of parables or aphorisms.

The First Sergeant let his question sink in and then restated the question more succinctly:

“Who are the two best bosses you’ll ever have?”

As he continued to smile, he provided an ample pause for thought and then slowly offered this answer:

“Think about this, it’s simple:

The guy who just left and the one who’s coming next.

We hardly ever see the current boss as the person who meets all of our needs.”

My first reaction was that the first sergeant was playing games with me.  I laughed and told him that it didn’t make sense.  He grinned and just stared back, challenging me to think about what I had just heard. He slowly sipped on the black coffee contained in his favorite mug, stained from years of use, patiently letting his message sink in.

The meaning of that first sergeant’s message came to me slowly that day.  And I’ve often thought about it in the years since.  Our perspective as human beings is so often shaped so much by the wish of what we really want or need that we don’t take the time to appreciate what we have.  And we spend so much time wanting our boss to change (or our co-worker, our friend or even our significant other) that we don’t realize that while we can’t change others, we can always change how we react to them.  We can become so hardened in our position that eventually we come to believe that the best solution is that the boss simply “should” change.

I know that many readers have examples of “yes, but” that includes their own “impossible bosses,” who make life miserable for others or just don’t know how to lead.  There are indeed situations that may well be untenable.  In such cases, there are limited options for a person, including suffering through it or, if possible, leaving the job.

And yet so often it is valuable to realize that the boss has his or her own capabilities, just as we do.  And his or her styles might well work for most people.  Understanding how our boss approaches the world is indeed the most important step we can take.  To do that, we must first “meet them where they are.”  That involves making human contact and connection with the coworker who happens to be your boss.  And that may well be the most difficult step, especially if we are fundamentally different in our approaches to the workplace and the communication inherent in it.

An important thing to remember is that we can feel resistance in ourselves when someone is different from us.  That resistance must be met with curiosity about what we are truly feeling.  By naming it – be it discomfort with communication styles or even values – we can help ourselves name that discomfort.  And understanding that the boss can feel resistance towards you is of equal importance.  Again, curiosity is our best approach to lean into the resistance we think we feel from the boss.

I have worked with clients who avoid their supervisor or manager because they feel their boss doesn’t understand them.  Initially, this might help us cope, but it can’t help us understand how we can change the way we react to them.  It’s best to lean into what we feel as resistance and use curiosity as our best tool in such situations.  Think carefully about how you word questions to anyone and especially your boss.  The open-ended “What communication style works best for you?” opens up possibilities, while something binary like, “You don’t like my emails do you?” can foreclose any connection or growth.  So too, the statement “I’d value time with you,” is an opening to a larger conversation that can be filled with development of the relationship.

There will always be bosses with whom you just “click.”  And there will be others where you have to work hard in establishing how you react to them.  My guess, based on that old first sergeant’s advice, is that one of those will be the best boss you ever had.  It’s your choice.

This article originally appeared on bostonexecutivecoaches.com.

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The new options are intended to enable agencies to continue meeting their staffing needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, while the memo addresses remote delivery for the administrative elements of onboarding, agencies may be struggling to effectively connect new employees to the new organization. And, with one recent study suggesting that a negative onboarding experience makes new employees two times more likely to look for a new job, it’s clear that effective onboarding must be a priority.

Here are six things to consider as you are working to quickly shift to virtual onboarding:

6 Keys to Virtual Onboarding

• Focus on the essentials – The study referenced above also found that the average onboarding process has 54 tasks for new employees. While that may be okay when they are face-to-face with someone who can help guide them through the process, asking a new hire to sift through all those requirements alone is daunting. Your virtual onboarding process should focus just on what is critical for the employee to get to work. Look for ways to streamline administrative requirements and consider deferring non-essential administrative trainings and meetings. Challenge yourself and hiring managers to find ways to assign productive work within the first few days of the employees tenure.
• Start before day one – In traditional onboarding processes, a lot of the pre-first day activity is administrative and misses out on opportunities to begin engaging the new hire in their new role and their new organization. Instead of just thinking about what needs to be done to get the employee to their first day, consider how you can best engage prior to the first day to help them connect to their work, their colleagues and the organization.

• Make time for one-on-one sessions with their supervisors – LinkedIn found that 72% of new hires in their survey said one-on-one time with their supervisors was the most important part of their onboarding experience. And, 96% found the meetings at least somewhat useful. Encouraging supervisors in your agency to prioritize spending time with new hires is an essential part of onboarding.

• Integrate storytelling – Every element of your virtual onboarding experience is an opportunity to build the brand of the agency and introduce new hires to the culture and values of the organization. Leverage videos, blogs, and articles that demonstrate the values, attributes, and behaviors that define your organization. You should share the stories that demonstrate the impact your agency has on customers and communities to help new employees get inspired by the impact their work will have.

• Intentionally connect new hires to their colleagues – Helping new hires feel a sense of connection and belonging to a distributed team is really critical. Consider scheduling virtual coffee meetings between new employees and their team members. Or, having team members write notes to mail to the new employee’s home office. In a time where all connections are electronic, having a physical link others can be very meaningful.

• Stay agile – Remember, you likely won’t get the virtual onboarding process right the first time – or maybe even the 51st time. And, that’s okay. If there was ever a time not to let perfect be the enemy of the good it’s now. Don’t be afraid to try new things, experiment, and learn. Resist the urge to invest in technology-driven solutions that are time-consuming to build and difficult to maintain. Instead, look for ways to rapidly deploy tools and processes that you can quickly adapt based on feedback from new employees. Be open to your new employees that the process is still a work in progress and enlist them as part of the team to help you make it better for those who come after them.

The rapid, forced shift to remote onboarding is going to stretch even the most forward-leaning and resilient organizations. But, with a few simple practices and the right attitude, you can capture the opportunity to radically reinvent the way you bring new people on to the job.

Need more tips on effective onboarding? Check out the GovLoop guide to essential onboarding.

This article originally appeared on GovLoop.com.

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Since Maslow entered management, managers have pushed for engagement, finding fulfillment, or simply “doing what you love” on the job. But, this is a narrow interpretation of an already pretty narrow view of human motivation.

A quick look at global employee engagement suggests that the way we’ve been pursuing self-actualizing work is likely misguided. Despite massive investments over the past two decades, we’ve seen little change in global employee engagement. In fact, a recent report from Gallup celebrates a 1% increase actively engaged members of the workforce with no change in the percent who are actively disengaged — and says nothing about the consistent majority of workers who are neither actively engaged or disengaged.

All of the effort and investment in driving engagement and self-actualization typically ignores what we really know about motivation. Motivation at work, and beyond, is deeply individual. We know that work motivation isn’t simply a linear progression toward self-actualization, engagement, or happiness. What then should a well-intentioned manager who’s been overdosed with Maslow do to help improve employee experience and performance?

I think there are really just two simple truths that leaders must embrace to build the employee-centered workplaces their employees are looking for — the type of workplace where employees are able to maximize the value they create for the organization and achieve their individual goals.

Here’s my short list of what managers must do to build a more human workplace:

1. Truly get to know your people. There is no substitute for an authentic relationship if you want to understand why your employees work and what motivates them to perform. It is only by understanding the deeply personal values of those we work with, through a lens of diversity and appreciation of the individual, that managers can tap into the contributions each individual wants to make to the success of the organization. I recognize that this can be tough for those who, like me, are introverts (sometimes tending toward misanthropic, if I’m 100% honest). But, it’s necessary. While generalizable guidance from studies can provide insight for managing “people”, managing “your people” requires you to understand their individual values and desires. So, make time to engage with them, ask questions, and listen to identify what really motivates them. Understand where work fits with their passions and values and how to best align with those to incentivize performance that benefits all stakeholders.
2. Embrace the fact that not everyone will find ultimate purpose in their job. One of the reasons that Gallups data on engagement persistently shows a majority of folks who are neither actively engaged nor actively disengaged with their work, I believe, is that many employees work jobs that enable them to do the other things in their life that give them meaning and purpose. Leaders in organizations should acknowledge that many, perhaps most, of their employees come to work to do a good job and have a meaningful impact on the mission of the organization, but the job itself is not what will lead them to self-actualization. The idea of working “just for the paycheck” seems to have gotten a bad rap in the world of work these days. But, it is the reality for many people – and we shouldn’t assume that just because they don’t seek ultimate purpose in their work that they are underachieving. Leaders need to learn to embrace the idea that their employees come to work for a variety of different reasons. And as long as they are creating value for the organization in alignment with what they are being paid, then that should be okay. Workplaces will be much healthier and honest when we stop expecting everyone to find passion in their daily vocation and instead are open to individual variations in “why” people come to work.

As a manager, focus on creating an environment where values-aligned performance is the priority, and where engagement, self-actualization, and fulfillment are ideals everyone is free to pursue at work or beyond.

For more tips on creating employee-centered workplaces, check out The Importance of Feeling Valued at Work. And for more on building your leadership muscle, take a look at 3 Tips for Becoming a Leadership Superhero.

This article originally appeared on GovLoop.com. 

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Have you ever sat in a meeting and watched the people around the table and started writing your own narrative about them? Your thoughts range from:

“He doesn’t care,” you say about one person.

“She has an agenda she’s trying to push,” you smugly say to yourself about another.

And then there is the inevitable, “He’s lazy and doesn’t want to get the job done.”

What’s the common denominator of such narratives?  They are all judgment based and blindly come to conclusions about the intent of each individual, based on nothing more than opinion and feelings.  As such they do nothing to enhance our personal and professional relationships and thus materially contribute to distrust, making them detrimental to how a team operates.

And in the process of assuming intentions, we create barriers of emotion and misunderstanding between individuals.  And then if we pass on those ill-founded conclusions to other members of the team, it can lead to triangulation, which further erodes trust.

Unfortunately, judging intent is easy, and we all succumb to it at one time or another, probably because it can help us justify our own feelings and impressions.  Think about it, though. Did you ever try to even figure out your own intentions? It takes a lot of deep thought and work to determine what is going on inside of yourself.  How could you presume to know what another person is thinking? It’s impossible.

Wouldn’t it be better to approach the narrative you develop in a way that helps you determine an individual’s capabilities so that you can become more curious rather than more judgmental about them?  You can start with a few assumptions about those capabilities, and then use them to become more curious. Harness that curiosity to learn and to benefit from the learning. Think about the narrative in the second paragraph this way:

“He doesn’t care,” could be replaced with, “I’m sensing a lack of interest in Bob.  I wonder if he’s just got too much on his plate. Maybe he doesn’t understand his role and can be helped with some mentoring. It’s important that I ask him about later.  Or maybe we can take a break and have a private conversation.”

“She has an agenda she’s trying to push and wants to get promoted,” could be substituted with, “I’m curious about Janet’s approach.  I wonder what expected outcome she sees for this project. She’s a smart person and could really help this team. I need to find out!”

The inevitable, “He’s lazy and doesn’t want to get the job done,” can be reframed with, “I know the project is stalled.  I wonder what details I don’t know about Larry’s job function and what might be happening in his life. We need this job done and I believe he can do it – I just need to dig into what’s going on.”

In each case, the observations and occasional assumption about capability is approached from a learning standpoint, not one of judgment.  By doing so, we liberate ourselves from leaping to conclusions and embracing the destructive “junk food” of judging the intentions of others.

We are all part of a system, be it two of us, a team, or even a corporation.  The norms of such a system are based on values and beliefs. And a personal belief like assuming intention can derail our relationships before they even leave the station.  As a coach it is my role to notice when I think this occurs and to become curious about it – and most importantly, not to assume the client’s intent – just his or her capability!  It’s an approach that can serve any leader and help build communication and trust in the members of the team.

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A huge factor in the prevalence of loneliness at work is the lack of a nurtured and authentic community. As humans, we are organically communal. When the ability to form connections is absent it’s natural for us to feel isolated.

In the workplace, community and culture are influenced by company values. Often those values aren’t overly difficult to identify. The hard part is bringing them to life. Whereas values are defined, community is forever moving. It’s not a process. It’s an organic ecosystem that in many ways constantly evaluates the meaning of business values at a single point in time rather than adhering to them ongoing in an unwavering manner. In short, communal interactions are stress tests in cultural authenticity. They determine which values matter the most and challenge those that may not be overly robust or that employees can’t live by. A positive values-driven community breaks down silos. It laterally cuts across organizations taking politics and difficult divergent views out of the picture. It has the power to bond by removing obstacles through shared goals, interests and commitments. It galvanizes and helps individuals and the company as a whole to grow, and through all of this, it’s one of the most significant ways to prevent or reduce loneliness. Community through culture must, therefore, be fostered for the good of everyone.

7 Ways to Reduce Isolation In The Workplace

All is not lost. There are many approaches worth considering to manage the problem of loneliness in the workplace. Not every one is right for every company, but here are seven to consider.

1. Challenge the Stigma

As leaders, we have a moral as well as professional duty to explore, recognize, and address loneliness in both ourselves and in our team members.  Social stigma can make this difficult to achieve. One way to get past it is to question the reality of loneliness. The Indian Journal of Psychiatry reported in a 2013 paper that, “loneliness is not necessarily about being alone”. Instead, it’s, “the perception of being alone and isolated that matters most”. In other words, it’s a state of mind. Admittedly, this view goes against the thinking that loneliness is a disease but it does help to give us one way to frame the challenge of isolation and, potentially, tackle it.

2. Acknowledge Loneliness

Start by looking at yourself. Do you feel isolated? Do you sometimes feel as though you are the only person, team, or group experiencing something? Do you find yourself saying ‘you wouldn’t understand’ when talking to others about a challenge?

If so, don’t just put it to one side and try to push through until things get better. Acknowledge and act. Whether you take on the view that it’s perception not reality or see it as a mental condition, open up about it to trustworthy colleagues, friends or family members. If you are suffering and can get over the social stigma, you’ll be much more likely to help others to do so. Even if you’ve never experienced the feeling of isolation at work, be very aware that it exists in those around you. Look out for signs, gently check temperatures and research the topic to increase your understanding so that you can act in an informed manner, quickly, and effectively.

3. Increase Development Paths

Introducing or bolstering learning programs can help to build confidence, provide focus and bring new and positive thinking into our employees’ lives. Being attentive and opening our minds in order to embrace new ideas, processes and plans is good for our wellbeing. Development planning can really help to bolster confidence and combat isolation. Learning can enable us to feel that our work lives have real meaning. A peer-to-peer training program in which newfound skills can be imparted brings together team members and fosters connection in an organic way. The opportunity to learn something and to problem-solve and share experiences with one another goes a long way to help people feel connected and to establish new relationships and sense of community.

4. Embrace the Power of Community

Encourage employees to become part of external communities. Help them to identify groups with whom they can share experiences, learn and grow. Recognize that social media can help to facilitate this. Partner with another business that may be part of your industry ecosystem that’s not in direct competition. Pair up individuals from each company or ask them to form an industry think tank. Delegate representation of your business at industry or trade events to employees or ask them to sit in on trade committees. And then, ask them to share their experiences with the company in a way that makes them feel comfortable. Schedule weekly meetings and regular group outings for the entire business. Make client visits an opportunity to bring diverse individuals together and capitalize on shared travel time.

5. Rethink Workplace Environments

The majority of office environments are not conducive to social interaction. Loneliness can easily make its mark as a result of design, layout, and look and feel. Create openness and very differently designed mini, zoned environments where employees can gather informally or use to hold meetings. Bring in sectionals, hang hammocks in groups and build in unique features where they can have fun together. Knock down the break room walls and convert the space into an open bistro. Remove cubicles and move to group tables. If they are needed in an environment such as a call center, use transparent dividing walls.

A great example of the use of environment to foster increased community is digital content distribution company Red Touch Media The business has embraced soccer as a social activity and brought it into their office by integrating goal posts and an AstroTurf penalty zone. Employees can challenge each other on their goal-scoring abilities at any time of day, share through social media and in doing so create a culture of connection.

WeWork is a business that uses purpose-built communal workspaces to humanize work through creativity, connection, and focus. It provides engagement hubs for small businesses to come together and inspire each other by sharing their drive, creativity, and innovation. It also fuels this energy by providing weekly events from thought leadership panels to cheese tastings.

And for those moving to more remote working situations, there are still ways to get creative with building a community. Schedule monthly or quarterly strategy sessions and outings where the entire team can get together. Encourage team members to travel together to client sites, using the ‘windshield time’ while behind the wheel of a car, and taking advantage of just the time and space of being together while in transit from point A to point B.

6. Provide Time for Social Activity Outside of the Office

It’s very encouraging to see more and more companies allowing individuals to work from home for a day per week. Laduma, a virtual reality consultancy, goes further by not only giving its employees time to work from home. It mandates that Friday afternoons must be work-free. No emails are allowed, no conference calls, nothing. Instead, employees are expected to do something socially positive. For example, it could be helping an elderly neighbor or as simple as just spending time with their families. Positive results include an increased feeling that the company cares, personal fulfillment through social community activities and time to reflect on challenges – including loneliness. Laduma also encourages employees to use the afternoon for personal needs such as dentist appointments. In doing so it means that team members don’t have to take time out at different times on different days meaning that they spend more connected time together in the workplace.

7. Institute Social Cause Hit Squads

When it launched in 2005 Virgin Unite, the iconic brand’s social and environmental cause division, came up with the concept of Virgin Hit Squads. Employees chose social and community causes that really mattered to them. The company then gave them a fixed number of working days per year to work in teams and complete specific goals in a set period of time.

One of my colleagues had the opportunity to be part of one of the Hit Squads in London. Twenty team members gathered in an area of exceptional poverty and “hit” a number of apartments occupied by single parents with large families. In a single day they stripped the décor, redecorated, found better furniture for them and then cleaned every corner of the flat. The families were overjoyed and after the job was done the Hit Squad went to the local pub and celebrated as a group. That’s two collective social experiences in one day! The Virgin Hit Squads were very successful in bringing employees out of isolation and doing a lot of good in the community.

The Last Word

The global epidemic of loneliness may never be completely eradicated but it can be contained and reduced by opening our eyes to new approaches. Contrary to the old adage reinforced every time we receive a flight attendant briefing on a flight, in this situation you should help yourself before helping others. Tackle any signs of loneliness in yourself and you’re well on your way to reducing or preventing isolation in your own business, growing your productivity and adding a little happiness to an ever increasingly tumultuous world.

Remember, you’re never truly alone.

The post 7 Ways to Reduce Loneliness in the Workplace appeared first on gothamCulture.

• Loneliness increases the likelihood of serious illness by repressing our immune systems. Depression, heart disease, strokes, panic attacks, low energy, and mental paralysis can all occur
• Admission of loneliness is contagious. When a person opens up about their sense of negative isolation, 52% of his or her friends are more likely to subsequently admit they have the same challenge
• It’s no longer a condition solely associated with the elderly. The average age of those suffering is declining fast
• It poses a greater health risk than obesity
• It’s worse for our health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day
• Acute loneliness increases the likelihood of early death by 14%

Loneliness has become a global epidemic that we need to recognize. A 2017 study in the UK showed that 9 million Brits suffer from loneliness. That’s a mind-blowing 14% of the entire population.

The consumer cooperative CO-OP calculated that loneliness costs $3.5 billion every year in Britain. This financial cost affects employers through sick days, lost productivity, and turnover.

As a response, the UK government recently went ahead and appointed the first ever Minister for Loneliness, a role created by Prime Minister Theresa May who stated, “For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life.” She’s right. The minister now in charge of reducing loneliness is Tracy Crouch who cites two key examples of her own extreme isolation that make her a good choice for the job. One was after the birth of her first child and the second was when she became a member of parliament. Focusing initially on the elderly her remit also includes tackling social isolation in the workplace in many ways including situations “where you could be feeling isolated from colleagues or trapped due to your desk-job.” The governments of Sweden and Canada have been inspired by the U.K.’s approach and are now considering major ways to combat loneliness.

Loneliness In The Workplace

So, why is loneliness such an issue in our experience at work? Who is prone and what are the causes?

As we work with groups of employees at all levels across the organization, this is a condition that is not choosy. It doesn’t matter what level, what industry, what size, or region of the world your organization is in.

A 2017 research report by Harvard Business Review found that the most lonely professions are legal practice followed by engineering and science. The least were those that had high interaction levels such as social work, marketing, and sales. Those with professional degrees such as law were 25% more lonely than those with bachelor’s degrees and 20% more than PhDs. The loneliest employees tended to be those who were not religious and non-heterosexual. The point is that there aren’t any exemptions. It’s just that loneliness is more amplified in some than others.

Loneliness is something that can cast its visit on anyone. We sought to reflect on and explore this theme and thought we’d share.

Let’s start at the top: Loneliness among executives

Loneliness among executives often arises through a lack of confidence or recognition, fear of failing, leadership team politics or a lack of work/life balance. It can easily lead to a loss of confidence and self-esteem resulting in the inability to make wise, informed and timely decisions. Procrastination can easily spiral and turn into a mental paralysis. This is especially prevalent in solo entrepreneurs. Overall, the effects of loneliness among executives can be devastating for an entire business.

While some executives are aware of the feeling of loneliness building up inside, many others don’t initially see or acknowledge that they’re lonely. It isn’t until they start seeing dysfunction amongst their executive team that they realize they are alone in needing to make decisions, that they are perceived differently by the team they work with most frequently, and that they don’t have a true partner or person to collaborate with. Recently, I was working with a new CEO who had been promoted from amongst his peer group. Due to his changing role, his ways of interacting with the team had to evolve and the relationships and dynamics of collaborative problem solving had to change also. Rather than the feeling of mutual accountability, the team looked to him for single-point accountability, and the final say on all decisions. It took time for him to realize that his position was becoming more and more lonely.

The Trickle Down Effect

No one is immune. Leaders struggling with the condition can unknowingly impact everyone in an organization. Most sideline their loneliness rather than face it. Some are able to adopt a poker face but when severe isolation strikes, it’s natural for us to send out signals for help, whether we know it or not. In other words, our behaviors can easily change and be recognized by our employees. Trust and morale can all easily waver. Worse still, the contagion can quickly spread.

The inability for different levels of employees to connect with each other can also cause loneliness. Employees can easily feel it’s not their place to form deeper connections with management, whether out of respect, fear or their relative place in the organizational structure. As such, a gap develops which is not healthy. In the same way, management may not want to overstep the mark and “interfere” with what are perceived as personal problems, especially in our ever more litigious business world. The bottom line is that when connection is sidestepped, isolation can blossom.

Isolation Acceleration Through Technology

Technology is quickening the pace of isolation by eroding traditional connection at all levels.

In the quest for increased productivity, we are fast introducing automation to streamline workflows, improve communication (theoretically at least), and reduce mundane tasks. In the process, we’re eliminating the need for in-person interaction.

Sales and marketing meetings have been replaced with marketing automation and CRM tools. Face-to-face project updates have declined in favor of project management platforms. Conference calls, whether audio or video, aren’t like getting around the table. The informal small talk is drastically reduced. There’s often silence as participants join, one by one. It’s like being in an elevator or a doctor’s waiting room. Telecommuting and flexible hours are also causing us to have fewer opportunities to connect, in person.

Of course, there’s no turning back and there shouldn’t be. Technology is continuously changing the way business gets done. It’s a critical consideration and force in our environments. The point is that we need to be more mindful of the tradeoff of technology and automation versus in-person communication. There needs to be a balance, and to create it we need to bring the issue of loneliness out into the open.

Getting Past The Point Of Loneliness

Whether the result of social change, personal doubt, automation or other factors it’s clear that we have to recognize and address loneliness in the workplace. Next week, in the second part of this blog post, we’ll look at this in more detail and provide a range of possible solutions worthy of consideration for your business.

The post Workplace Loneliness in the Age of Connectivity appeared first on gothamCulture.

Last year, HubSpot’s Culture Code went viral. The SlideShare, created by our CTO and co-founder Dharmesh Shah, inspired comments and compliments from partners, customers, industry experts, and competitors alike. The deck itself is remarkable, but to me what’s more important than the document is the degree to which we practice what we preach.

At the end of the day, a company’s culture isn’t about ping-pong tables, free snacks or perks. It’s about collective expectations for how you hire, fire, and work on a daily basis. People talk a lot about business plans as it relates to your P&L, cash flows, and strategy to beat your competitors, but invest very little time and energy into codified how they actually run and manage the business on a daily basis.

Businesses who ignore their company’s culture do so at their peril. In a recent study of 15,000 millennials, “people and culture fit” far outpaced any other option as their top consideration for employment. You can give out all the t-shirts and swag you want, but the next generation of world-class talent is cognizant of the fact that they’ll spend years of their lives at work.

HubSpot is different. Its founders were both committed from the beginning to build a company that matches how 21st-century employees live and work. From the outset, they saw culture for what it could be: a significant competitive advantage in building a company they wanted to be around for generations.

Below are five ways your culture can be a competitive advantage, regardless of your industry, geography, or company history:

1) Culture Defines What’s Possible: In a recent TechCrunch article on culture, MIT professor Bill Aulet quotes IBM’s legendary leader Lou Gerstner as saying: “in the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.” Steve Jobs was legendary for his reality distortion field, a series of expectations for his team that were described by most people (including employees) as delusional. Companies don’t make the impossible possible by following the playbook of everyone else before them. They succeed explicitly because their organization is defined by a different set of beliefs than others, and that they are bound to deliver upon that promise. Organizations that inspire their employees with a defined culture of ingenuity and innovation expect more of their team and achieve more collectively, and your products, marketing approach, and customers benefit from that commitment.

2) It’s A Powerful Weapon in the War for Talent: The very best employees in the world are often gainfully employed, not searching your website every day for job openings. As a result, companies need more than a boring job description to stand out from the pack in a highly competitive job market. Defining and codifying your culture sets a tone for the type of people you want to attract, and helps people at the very top of your recruiting funnel get a sense for what makes your company tick. Chipotle uses video to highlight how their company empowers employees to grow, a tactic that allows them to recruit team members who see them less as a fast food job and more as a potential avenue for a long-term career. Our neighbors at Wayfair in Boston talk about hiring “go-to people” so that driven people know it could be a great fit for them. An attractive company culture not only helps you recruit, but it also helps you recruit the right kind of person for your working environment.

3) A Strong Culture Empowers Employees To Make Good Decisions:  One of the best-known global leaders in company culture is Netflix. Their founder, Reed Hastings, codified the values they expect employees to exhibit in his wildly popular slide deck. But he also saw where traditional mission statements fall short: by outlining on without clarifying an expectation of how they should inform behavior. Next to each value in the Netflix deck is a series of examples of the type of behavior that personifies each trait. For example, “impact” is accompanied by “you focus on great results rather than process.” Remarkable cultures don’t just inform the C Suite; they empower employees at all levels of the business to follow guideposts for decision-making. Every single day, employees make thousands of decisions that can impact your business: giving them a roadmap for how to think about those decisions in a meaningful way saves time, energy, effort, and money.

4) It’s a Promise To Your Customers: Twenty years ago, what people knew about your company was largely controlled by your marketing team. Potential customers had to rely on written collateral and word of mouth to know what it was like to do business with your organization. Those days are long gone: the gap between the customer and your company is now 140 characters. Any prospect, at any time, can get real time information about your product or services, and people buy based not just on your product, but on your company and what it stands for. The percentage of prospects researching HubSpot who visit our management pages for more information on our team has increased dramatically over the last several years because our prospects want to know that our C-suite is committed to a great customer experience, really cares about transforming how business is done to be more inbound, and practice what they preach in terms of solving for the customer. In the post-Enron era, customers know that what companies believe informs how they operate, so culture helps inspire trust in potential buyers, which impacts not only your brand but also your bottom line.

5) Done Well, It Keeps You Honest: As you scale, grow, open new offices, and add more people, you can no longer rely upon a small handful of people or a weekly tradition to keep your company disciplined around your culture. Like it or not, one person can no longer be responsible for interviewing everyone, for checking references, and for holding people accountable to a “no assholes” rule (we have one of those, so does Eventbrite—I’m a huge fan). Culture was always a huge part of our business at HubSpot, but no one wanted to talk much about it because it wasn’t a discussion or a tactic; it was simply the way we were. Sadly, that approach erodes over time, so investing the time and energy before you lose sight of what makes your company and your team special is imperative. At HubSpot, we view the Culture Code not as a constitution of sorts, but rather like our software, which we are constantly refactoring to meet the needs of the customers we serve on a daily basis. Dharmesh frequently updates the Culture Code based on employee feedback, insights from trusted advisors, and his own self-reflection, and the company’s ongoing commitment to getting it right keeps us all honest about how well we are delivering upon our approach to culture at regular intervals throughout the year.

History is filled with companies who made excellence a habit with remarkable company cultures (IBM, GE, Netflix, and W.L Gore all come to mind), but it’s also ripe with companies whose entire businesses fell due to a lack of accountability and ethics in their organizational practice (like Enron, WorldComm, and Arthur Andersen). Company cultures are not about plaques on the wall or posters in the office. They are about setting a clear vision and expectation for the type of people, work, attitude, and output you expect from your team and holding everyone accountable to that standard. Truly effective company cultures don’t manifest themselves in one person, benefit, or tactic, but rather emulate the values and beliefs that make your company truly unique.

Culture gets a bad rap in the corporate world for being “soft” in comparison to say, your balance sheet or P&L. But the truth is that codifying, promoting, refactoring, and committing to a differentiated company culture is incredibly hard. However, when your company culture goes beyond jargon and marketing terminology and becomes the fabric of how your organization operates, it becomes a real competitive advantage.

Katie Burke is a Director on the Marketing team at HubSpot.

The post In Good Company: How Company Culture can be a Competitive Advantage appeared first on gothamCulture.