I am lucky. My work requires an Internet connection and quiet. An office no longer serves any need for me, although, at times, I have been invited to attend a few in-person meetings and it is fun to meet in humans in real life again.
It seems to me the options today are:
- Work from home.
- Work from the office.
- Work from a coffee shop
- Work from a We Work-type space
- Hybrid.
- None of the above.
- All of the above.
- Work from wherever.
I’m writing this from Hawaii, where we are visiting our almost 4-year old grandson Bodhi Kai, daughter, and son-in-law. Because of the time difference, most of my work is in the afternoon’s east coast time – since Hawaii is six hours earlier.
Since I’m self-employed, my schedule is my own, but I’m still working about 20 hours each week from wherever.
The Idea of an Office Seems Odd
Since starting The Marketing Sage Consultancy in 2015, I vividly see what a waste of time at an office was for most of my working career.
During my office days, I would meet once a week with my marketing team or leadership – but 90% of the time, I sat alone in an office staring at a screen. The office was more outdated than carbon paper or a typewriter for the type of marketing work I did. It served little function and was a huge expense.
I enjoyed traveling and meeting in-person with customers. But the office was an odd duck of a place that felt strange to me pre-pandemic. With technology today – an office feels so Madmen era. (but without the alcohol and smoking)
In my early career when I was in my 30s, I enjoyed socializing with my gang of office friends.
George, Andy and I would get lunch together at Boondinis and sometimes take walks to talk about some of the challenges we faced. It was great for socializing and connecting in person, but overall, being in an office served little purpose but the technology didn’t exist to seemlessly work together from a distance.
Over the last several decades, this notion of bumping into others at the water cooler felts unrealistic then and ancient now. I’m not sure I ever had any big eureka moment at work. My best ideas came when I went for a walk, visiting a grocery store or while taking a shower. Travel also allowed me to connect in person with new folks in my industry at trade shows or customer visits.
The office was the worst place for me to get work done.
I’d use the quiet of home in the early morning on weekends to finish some critical stuff. Going to the office wasn’t productive.
Meeting in the office in the 1990s and 2000s were so often a mess that they were more social than functional. Without crisp agendas, we’d talk and argue mostly unproductively and be confused about who was responsible for decisions. Office meetings often felt like a lot of energy without producing meaningful results.
When I worked in the wine industry, the office at Nomacorc was attached to our synthetic cork manufacturing plants so being connected to our frontline workers felt different. I enjoyed that office space a bit more. It reminded me of my brownie days where we had our office next to the bakery and warehouse space. I also worked for my friend Lars, a great boss who knew how to build a culture and manage meetings effectively.
Sitting Alone in My Office, At the Office
In the last few decades, I’d write, connect, brainstorm ideas, and then move them forward. But I did most of this in front of a screen – not other humans. The office had little impact on my culture and how I felt about the company.
I believe how you feel about your companies culture is 80% how you feel about your boss. A great boss made the culture great – a bad one, well it made work dull and frustrating.
I’m happy to see that form of going to an office receding. However, I know many companies are experimenting with going back to an office or hybrid arrangements.
I’m glad I don’t have to do it anymore, waiting for the clock to hit 5:00 pm so I could leave to head home. Ridiculous. Sitting in traffic for 30 minutes commuting – is just a big waste of my time.
If I Were King (or CEO)
Here is what I’d do today if I ran a company with a few dozen employees that weren’t a physical job like manufacturing.
Eliminate the Office.
I’d use the savings from not having an office to hold friendly quarterly meetings. These in person events would have everyone gather to socialize, talk, and discuss whatever they believed couldn’t be accomplished in person. We’d have a dinner together and maybe go to a movie, bowling or a sporting event in town.
What extra savings come from living rent-free would be used for salary, benefits, and bonuses.
I’d treat employees as adults, and they could figure out where to work from. They would have the option to access public workspaces like We Work if working at home was difficult.
But they would choose how to be most productive that fits their needs and work style. We wouldn’t have any “one-size fits all” approach. You’d make your own adventure/work situation.
In-person meetings could be held, beyond the quarterly get together, if necessary, at places that could be rented, like hotel conference rooms.
I’d invest in employees first and build programs that invested in wellbeing and trust.
Work from wherever.
Trust employees’ judgment of how to be productive. Let the employees choose how to best do their job.
Treat adults like – adults. What a novel idea.
Sounds let a plan for success.
Wherever.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.
Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash
