Return to Work
To fully understand the rapid change that’s happening with our working lives today, it’s worth taking a moment to analyze what work was like before the digital age: understanding the “why” we work the way we do today is as important as how we’ll work in the future. Simply put, it brings context to the everyday decisions we make about work and to a larger degree society as a whole.
From Crafts to Industry
The first was late 19th to early 20th century and our shift from crafts to industry.
The primary forces driving work were industrial; production and manufacturing of industrial goods were developed in a centralized location to adhere to strict control. Where skill and craftsmanship was central to a person’s identity, however, this craftsperson became a faceless, nameless employee- a number on the assembly line to what I’d describe as early employee disengagement.Efforts were made to improve the working environment by giving awards as a way to make them feel important and additional incentives where introduced for higher performers.
Some of the independent craftspeople and respective businesses remained; examples such as the baker, cabinet maker, or barber shop owner. They were still able to practice their craft and earn a living. But in both scenarios, work was still married to location. Homes were in close proximity to these city centers where residents had a short commute from the factory, if any commute at all after work. The independent businesses even lived right above their shop.
Interesting, today there are many districts being redeveloped throughout the US who are thriving as live/work businesses; from Brooklyn’s organically grown DUMBO district to Miami’s billion dollar Brickell City Center development which integrates business, entertainment and shopping as part of the offering. And, for first time in 100 years the rate of urban growth outpaced the growth of the suburban population.
Mid-Century Boom
The late 1940’s and early 1950’s experienced incredible growth and housing demand increased in part due to GI’s returning from the end of WWII. What was undeveloped land at the boarders of major cities became plots for developing affordable houses for returning veterans and their families. There are a few examples of these homes in neighborhood’s right here in Houston. The City of Bellaire is an annex of Houston which was considered the outskirts in the 1950’s. There are a few of the original homes there, but they are mere shacks to what’s being developed now on their highly desirable lots.
The passage of the 1956 Federal Aid Highway Act pathed the road for connecting cities to interstate highways. This led to the growth and expansion of new homes located outside of the densely populated city centers and the promise of retreating to a more relaxing and family friendly environment created the suburbs, separating work from home.
Dot Com Age
Fast forward to the third shift, or dot come age, to the late 1999’s and early 2000’s. Technologically advanced systems gave way to ubiquitous computing allowing email, office automation, and the internet to deliver just in time information. Consultancies whose workforce were primarily at client sites introduced hoteling at the central (home) offices, which eliminated the need for permanent office space in favor of temporary “check-in” locations. Employees could forward calls to their work number giving further flexibility to working from home or being accessible while on the go. And filing cabinets where no longer needed as information was stored on back up hard drives.
While this shift from permanent to temporary office space saved considerable revenue in maintaining infrastructure to support largely empty work spaces, the initial reaction from many employees were negative as they felt they were giving up their personal space.
The dot come age further proclaimed the end of 20th century work culture- internet start ups made bold proclamations such as no more paper, pant and dress suits no longer required, and no more cubicles. This new attitude was born out of silicon valley and the free spirit of Californians. Both sub-cultures rejected the rigid, inflexible work nature of corporations and while a few innovations still prevail from the dot.com era, many failed to drive sustainable growth. At least the casual dress code prevailed!
And we can’t talk about the Dot Com era without highlighting the accidental office also known as Starbucks. Causal meetings at Starbucks and local coffee shops turned into extended impromptu brainstorming sessions and later temporary office spaces for cash-strapped Internet start-ups. But, these so called “branch offices” lacked proper business tools such as mark up walls or monitors to support deep dives and were often too loud for focused work to happen.
This brings us to present day also described as the 4th industrial revolution.
This period has introduced advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and the internet of things and we are witnessing a techtonic shift in how we live and work in weeks and months, not years. Add the pandemic to this shift and you have a global workforce that has gone remote overnight. As the cases with Covid-19 continue to decline, we are beginning to see a return to some normalcy; companies creating a staggered schedule to return to the office and others even committing to being 100% remote.
For work to happen today, founders of Basecamp, a fully remote company argue it’s not whether or not your in the office, but if we are connected to the hyper-networked economy. They published two best sellers on work: One is called Remote and the other is Rework. Essentially, they argue that work needs to come to the workers, rather than workers moving to work. And part of that argument is that the technologies that we’ve developed enable us to remain productive wherever we are.
Yet, we have also experienced the side effects of being fully remote over the course of the pandemic. The countless hours, days, and weeks of working from home in isolation during covid took a toll on our overall mental health. A study conducted by Telus International highlights the anxiety and stress people felt:
4 out of 5 workers find it hard to “shut off” in the evenings- Forbes
What Will Our Work Look Like Tomorrow?
A Harvard Business Review article points out that the majority of professionals polled desire flexibility, yet only half of those individuals have access to it. Understanding the different needs of people and how they integrate their lives into work will be essential to finding the right balance that makes sense for business and people.
For instance, for the 2+ million women who were displaced during covid because they had to decide on caring for their children vs coming to work, what are ways for companies to adapt in order to leverage their talent and abilities during non-traditional working hours? Foundational to design thinking, solving this challenge (and more) starts with having empathy.
Let’s embrace this empathic approach to transform the future of work together.