Decrapify Work or Die (harder)
We interrupt this broadcast ...
Yesterday, after drafting this email, I put up this LikedIN post about the future of work and the office and it went total gangbusters. A few other people also posted on this topic and their feeds went nuts too.
Whatever your views, I think we can conclude that people care about this and that they want to see changes. COVID has let people taste the forbidden fruit of a life where they have much more autonomy over their work and environment. They are not going back to the thin gruel they had before.
Getting this shift right could go a long way to decrapify work for a lot of people.
It's not home OR office
Herman Miller, the office furniture company, break away from the tedious binary that rather dominates the debate (as it does all too many debates today) by talking about ‘distributed working’. This is simply enabling employees to work in a variety of locations, as they decide is appropriate to their work and circumstances. Some of it will be in an office but not just stuck at a workstation but is a variety of environments. Some will be at home, some at smaller neighbourhood offices and some will be out of office space like coffee shops.
In truth, this type of distributed working has been common in the tech industry for many years but it can now be much better supported and made available to employees in any industry.
This sort of choice and autonomy has to be a good thing, doesn’t it? Or do you think there are reasons why it won’t work? What would you prefer?
It’s about the future of living
This is the view of Chris Herd, who is a big advocate of remote working and well worth a follow on twitter or LinkedIn.
He’s biased, of course (his company helps organisations go fully remote!) but I think his point is valid. One of the reasons we need to decrapify work is because of the way it has intruded into our personal lives, through technology and bad management practices. His argument is that the pandemic has shown what is possible and people are now going to demand options that allow them to redress the balance and achieve a blend of work and personal life that suits them.
Chris says that remote working is revolutionary is enabling employees to take control of their life and that 'in demand' talent is simply going to insist on this.
I think he’s right but my desire is to see it extended to everyone. A lack of autonomy is one of the sources of crap and I think everyone should have more control over their work and lives.
Where does the crap come from?
Some people have told me what they think ‘Decrapify Work’ means and, of course, they are all different because it’s quite personal. It’s got me thinking that the crap comes from certain common areas, that there are some themes that we could explore.
1. Bureaucracy The everyday sludge that we have to wade through simply to exist in the workplace, let alone get anything done.
2. Behaviour The way people are with each other and how bad behaviour is not only tolerated but often rewarded. Bad behaviour is a form of violence, as I mentioned in last week’s missive. Nobody enjoys being where people are being shitty to each other all day long.
3. Honesty How often do you find yourself saying “Just spare me all the spin and double-talk and tell me what’s happening!”. We’re adults, right? We can take the reality, it’s the bullshit that drives us mad.
4. Transparency The idea that ‘information is power’ still holds sway in many environments but it’s actually untrue in our information-rich, networked work environments. It makes life harder for people, and it's also used for shitty little power plays, which brings us to …
5. Abuse of power We want to be treated fairly, with respect and dignity. We don’t want to be dictated to or, worse, bullied by people who have power over us. Arbitrary decisions, last-minute demands, ego-driven objectives, favouritism - these are things that irritate the hell out of us.
6. Conformity It’s a devaluation of the self, you have to suppress some of your personality in order to ‘fit in’ but the yardstick you are judged against is never clearly described
7. Autonomy Why can’t we make our own choices about how we do our work, and where and when we do it? Why are we treated like school children, who can only be trusted to work if we are sat at our desks and watched over?
This is not a comprehensive list and, of course, all of these are related. In the worst, most toxic, crappiest workplaces, they are all a problem. However, it may just be that by addressing a few of these we could go a long way to decrapifying your workplace.
Got some to add? I'd love to hear. Defining the problem is the first step to addressing it, so let's wrestle this sucker to the ground.