Connection – the real reason we need time in the office

Connection – the real reason we need time in the office

Digital tools may be broadening our career capabilities, but without in-person connection, we won’t see its full potential, says Daisy Hughes, Senior Consultant for Corporate Communications and Digital Marketing.

We’re missing out by not being in the office.

Yes, you’ve heard it before. No, it isn’t a popular opinion. And true, everyone’s working style and engagement levels are different depending on the environment they’re in.

But – and it’s a big but – we are missing out by not being in the office. Or more specifically, not having a degree of in-person connection with colleagues, peers, mentors. 

Advanced digital capabilities are as vital to the workplace and the workforce as email is. It enables greater opportunities and accessibility, creativity and strategy, growth and development, and the list goes on.

On the other end of the spectrum is what digital tools, software, and a great WiFi connection will never be able to give us. It’s one of the most important pieces of the puzzle towards career and company success, and arguably, it’s the one detail most professionals have forgotten about: connection.

Our most valuable commodity

Anyone talking about the core benefit to working 100% remotely will usually say time.

Time working from home means time back from commuting. Time spent with family and loved ones. Time used for personal projects or pets or pastimes. Time to eat better, exercise more, nip into your garden to breathe in the fresh air after a tough call.

These are worthwhile additions to the ‘pros’ column, and can have a positive impact on anyone’s wellbeing and lifestyle. Digital working can increase accessibility, increasing opportunities for individuals and talent pools for businesses. It can make coordinating meetings much more simple (particularly since no one has to duck out of work for hours of travel!), plus it gives us the ability to form stronger relationships with overseas clients, colleagues and partners.

However, when we talk about ‘having more time’, or ‘getting time back’, many professionals forget that we’re also losing time.

For new joiners, training and onboarding remotely can be hugely time-consuming, not to mention demoralising when you’re left to muddle your way through without someone on-hand, in-person to support. All of which, has a ripple effect on contentment and capabilities in a role.

For longer-term employees, progression up the ladder is made that much harder and that much slower without consistent 1-2-1s and check-ins. And when none of these are conducted face to face, it’s easy to see how it can become another tick-box exercise, rather than a dedicated time to discuss career development, distraction-free.

Underpinning all of this is that a work model which is 100% digital doesn’t enable true, meaningful connection. The connection that comes from being in the same room with someone more than once a quarter.

It’s not all about what you say…

If you’ve heard of the 7-38-55 communication model, you might understand the importance of in-person connection more than most. Coined by Albert Mehrabian, it’s the concept that as much as 55% of our communication is non-verbal.

Body language is a hugely important factor in how we relate with one another, create and strengthen connections, even understand certain nuances and contexts around communication. What we say has far less weight in our communication tactics than we might think.

So when we’re strictly presenting a 2D version of ourselves, limited to discussing only the task at hand, and seen as another head and shoulders on a screen, we lose that. And we lose the impact that can have on our professional relationships.

Here’s an example:

You may see how your manager presents a new campaign to clients on a call. What you may not experience is the ways they develop the strategy, and their unique process. How they prepare for important calls. How they decompress, express satisfaction or disappointment to peers.

Thinking about it in real-life terms suddenly makes it much more obvious that these are the moments which accelerate connection with others, and development individually. Water-cooler moments which go far beyond what someone did on the weekend or what university their son goes to.

It’s about how they tick, and importantly, what you can learn from it.

Digital is growing

If there’s one thing all professionals – on both sides of the fence – can agree on, it’s this very principle. Digital is growing, it won’t slow down any time soon, and used correctly, this can be a hugely beneficial thing for all professionals and businesses.

Remote operations were a pandemic necessity, and there’s no doubt it’s opened more doors than we could possibly know this early on. Now that it’s less of a necessity, we need to consider why so many people want to keep 100% remote working, what we’re gaining – and what we’re losing.

A hybrid working model is often used as a way to find a compromise and balance for employer and employee. True. It also provides greater inclusivity for people living with disabilities or chronic illnesses, parents and carers, and many others. But it’s equally as important to remember that time in the office isn’t merely ‘a mandatory contractual requirement’.

So often there’s reticence to be in the office because the focus remains on the equation of travel + time = waste. Instead, we should encourage ourselves and one another to shift the focus on what we can gain from spending time with peers and seniors in-person.

It’s a chance to create genuine, long-lasting connections. Connection which can positively influence your team, your clients, and your career.