It's clear that the coming 12-18 months will be different for our members compared to the past 12-18. We have a terrific opportunity to figure out how we can be most helpful to them through this.
I came across an interview with MS CEO Nadella this morning that has a section with a different take on all this WFH stuff:
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"Be on the lookout for what is lost."
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Mr. Nadella said that raw productivity stats for many of Microsoft's workers have gone up, but that isn't something to "overcelebrate." More meetings start and end on time, but "what I miss is when you walk into a physical meeting, you are talking to the person that is next to you, you're able to connect with them for the two minutes before and after." That's tough to replicate virtually, as are other soft skills crucial to managing and mentoring.
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Switching from offices before the pandemic to an all-remote setup would be "replacing one dogma with another dogma," he said. "What does burnout look like? What does mental health look like? What does that connectivity and the community building look like? One of the things I feel is, hey, maybe we are burning some of the social capital we built up in this phase where we are all working remote. What's the measure for that?"
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Many other firms are reporting increased productivity in their WFH experience to date. Most are surprised at this. But Nadella is, I think, on to something here. Is this productivity really sustainable? I don't think it is without incorporating new elements into this environment relating to the human relations part of it. That's where we could come in.
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Jerry Norman
VP, 90 Minds
Smartbridge Partners
512.419.1444 x112
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