When Your Team Returns to the Office... Sort Of

A message from our CEO, Rob Herzog

Where is everyone?

When recently speaking to a Chief People Officer at a 1,000-person company, they shared that everyone is required to be back in their office three days a week. 

When I asked what they were doing to recreate the informal culture that brought about serendipitous interactions, collaboration, and fun (and made it worthwhile for their employees), they paused and replied:

"Well, the first step is getting them back into the office…”

Meanwhile, the feedback from several people at their company said:

"I go into the office, and no one is there..."

"Everyone in the office has their heads down and headphones on. No one is speaking to each other."

What does this all mean? Well, the social constructs that existed at work (chatting at the water cooler, grabbing lunch with co-workers, and office happy hours) are happening much less frequently. In turn, friendships that existed before COVID may be revived but it's harder to make new friendships.

In conversations with dozens of companies, ZogCulture has been discussing how to be more purposeful about returning to work.

1. It starts with intent and company-sponsored events (both large and small).
2. It continues by modeling behavior you want to see like managers asking people to join them for lunch or having discussions in-person instead of just over email or Slack.
3. Finally, it continues through consistency by hosting more events, continuing to model the right behavior, and communicating intent. 

As a company that has been focusing on bringing people together for over 20 years and creating corporate teambuilding experiences (in-person and virtual) for almost 10, we're happy to discuss these trends with you.

If we can be helpful in planning something for your team, great. If not, we hope this conversation helps you take the first/next steps needed to rebuild relationships and strengthen your company culture.

Not sure where to start? Let's chat. Email samantha@zogculture.com or set up a meeting with us, here.

Photo from www.canva.com.