How do you feel about the serendipity of conversations at work, in a remote-first environment!
Fares
51 replies
Many love working remotely, but serendipity moments in the office can be lacking, "Serendipitous moments are those that can happen by chance, EX: like a coffee break that would happen through a physical structure."
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David T. Kim@david_t_kim
My take: Serendipity online is more scalable, but real life can be deeper.
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@david_t_kim Is there a way to have both?
I'm thinking of trying to set one date per month where each employee is in physical contact with his or her colleagues
@fares_aktouf Great intention, but little concerned about two things.
1. Would it be forced? If so, it might get stagnant in terms of frequency when work gets busy
2. Might only meet up with people that they are familiar with.
Otherwise, it's a noble effort! My company has implemented this with some success and failures.
@david_t_kim @fares_aktouf Thats how its being done at my office. Although ours is permanent wfh, we meet at a co-working space once or twice a month.
@david_t_kim @abid_unnisa beautiful, what results have you seen since the beginning of this measure?
@david_t_kim You're right, it's complicated. I want to set two dates per month where each employee is required to be physically present once (per month). But there are a lot of other parameters I need to consider.
100% remote and I miss coffee breaks. Videoconfs are always somehow planned and cannot compete with random conversations because you happen to be having a coffee at the same time. I don't have any clue as to how this could be fixed.
@julian_aubourg Coffee breaks happen because we work in the same place with similar hours. Technically, they happen more because of the work structure than by serendipity. Recreating similar structure around breaks (ie. scheduling remote coffee breaks) seems like the closest thing you can get.
I think one real difference is that IRL people will not mind disturbing you to ask for a coffee, which they're less likely do online.
There is however a challenge in creating a remote-first culture (and tooling) where people have the platform to create informal moments on a whim.
@strift @julian_aubourg Yes!!! without forgetting all those other little moments of sharing, like: the arrival or the departure of the office, the cigarette break, the lunch break, the after work...
@julian_aubourg the expectation my breaks should be used for work drove me mad. I needed them to keep from losing my mind
Such casual interactions are probably what I value most in the office. It's far from easy to recreate them in a remote environment. The only way that I could figure out are periodic offline meetings
I think it exists in both situations but it's just different. I would miss the natural conversation within in person work situations, but I think there are a lot of tools to replicate that to at least 80% for remote
@aaronoleary Do you really think so? Which tools?
@fares_aktouf One that comes to mind is Donut!
@aaronoleary I guess it's a nice messaging tool. But honestly! At best it would have the same impact as any video,
You honestly think that a video or other messenger can expect 80% of the result of the natural conversation? Honestly !
Not deep. Yep, we can talk about weather and stuffs but does not mean eventually it will be a meaningful relation.
@ashrahman I'm not talking about friendship, but more about a relationship with a certain complicity and a certain level of confidence
Yep, that can be complicated in a virtual environment. But we can look at gamers though, they stay connected in an interactive environment and often it turns out to be an effective IRL relation.
@ashrahman @fares_aktouf I do agree with this reasoning. Gamers and real life replication like Second Life can seriously compete with real life.
So, yes, a realistic metaverse could solve the problem, not those simplistic old-style characters Meta is doing right now for some hard to understand reason.
People got very serious in SL, fall in love, married, done businesses, maintained and continued relationships for years, so yes, it can happen. If the environment simulates the real world with same sensorial stimulation, attachments and similar emotion evoking moments can happen.
@ashrahman @cristinaimre As a former game player, a universe like world of warcraft or other MMOs have convinced me that a virtual universe can do a lot, is it the only solution?
I ask myself a strange question with all the feedback we have the chance to have on this subject. The human being needs human relations and is conscious of it, why do they strive to develop things to detach themselves from it? (l'instant philo)
@cristinaimre @fares_aktouf until we are getting a true VR experience like the movie The Zero Theorem - I guess games are the closest thing we have right now! 💡
I value casual interactions with my peers at the office. They are difficult to recreate in a remote environment. The only way I've been able to get these regular face-to-face meetings is by holding them offline.
I think this situation is like you can't have your cake and eat it too!
I work with a remote-first company, and we all met in person recently. Ever since, it's been relatively easy to get on casual conversation calls during and post work.
As a team, we connect monthly on a video call and discuss everything, work and non-work.
Individually, we decide when and how we want to connect. It's mostly video calls but through common meeting links like any office lobby or pantry.
I would love to know if the "serendipity of conversations" could be retained differently.
I definitely miss these moments. I went from working in an office with people I loved to switching to a freelance career WFH and taking care of a baby full time! The tradeoff is I work harder and I get less distracted than I did in an office. I also miss the random opportunities to notice and help a coworker solve a work problem.
@tinaciousz I understand you perfectly. It's true that there are advantages and disadvantages, but being able to keep this human relationship from time to time is essential.
P.S. Congratulations for your baby
As someone with ADHD I hated that part of work since it took me so long to refocus. Now I engage when asked and it’s way more focused and I’m not nearly as distracted.
@cat_hicks In your case, I understand, don't you think that meeting your colleagues once or twice a month would be beneficial for you? But in my case, I find it hard to do without others, it's with them that I find inspiration, energy to surpass myself when I'm exhausted, other times the motivation ... Or even the courage to leave my job.
@fares_aktouf I have great collaboration with my team online. And meeting with my team in person would be impossible as were in France NYC SF LA and a few other places. We as a company we’re built from the ground up for remote collaboration
Definitely enjoy the serendipity of conversations at work more. It's always little conversations that can make your day.
Let's start scaling those coffee breaks please :)
Yes. I love those moments, especially the casual talk with people in the same project during a coffee break. However, I enjoy working from home as well. That's why I choose 2/5 work from office and 3/5 work from home. lol
I think it's important to be open and curious, especially when you're working remotely. I've found that it's easy for us to get caught up in our own heads, so a little bit of serendipity can really help us keep our focus on the people around us and what they're sharing.
I've discover a new word thanks to you :D. Well, the advantages of the remote are the disadvantages of the office (concentration, calmness etc..) and vice versa. The best is to combine remote and office in my opinion.
@benjamin_arne Combining remote and desktop to create a hybrid model is probably the best solution, always keeping an agile aspect
I think you need to have a dynamic and energetic environment at work to push serendipity. It's impossible when you are in remote (but maybe with Metaverse... young people will find their way)
I believe that the overall situation is different, especially when it comes to remote coffee breaks. You have to sit in front of your screen for an online one, whereas the in-person break can be more organic and does not require planning.