Thinking about the Future of Work Got You Down? Me too, Let’s Talk.

When faced with the unknown, the human mind is paralyzed. It doesn’t know how to process anything that it hasn’t already experienced.

So when it’s faced with the unknown, it pulls from corollaries and fills in the gaps. If something feels vaguely like something it has experienced before, it says this new thing must also be the same way. If something looks like something it’s seen before but isn’t quite that thing, it fills in the gaps and says, “don’t worry, it is what you’ve always known,” even if it’s completely and utterly wrong.

Simply put: the brain doesn’t like the unknown and immediately processes as much as it can from the event, runs it through the lens of what it has already known, and instantly tells you what to think, feel, and ultimately act in response by searching for the answer to one question: “What is this most like in my past experience.”

Don’t believe me? Check out Barrett’s theory of emotion (2006).

The trouble with this split-second processing pulling from what you’ve always known is that you’re never really able to move forward. You’re always creating some version of something you’ve known before. That’s why having diverse points of view and perspectives is essential; it helps what you’re creating not be a product of what you’ve always known (without you even knowing it).

So what does this have to do with the Future of Work?

As I think about content and developing programming for our members, I have to consider what is here and now. That is a key part of our overall strategy (which I promise I’ll outline in detail in my next post). And well, here and now is all about the future of work. As vaccines get in arms and normalcy (Florida notwithstanding) seems possible, employers evaluate their office spaces and how to continue moving business.

The thing is, we’re still in the unknown. More than a year later, we’re still sailing uncharted waters, and we’ve developed a reluctant trust in our captains because there is a weird comfort in simply accepting, “even though no one knows what’s going on, someone is navigating and leading this ship.”

Do you feel it, too? The rush of being on the verge of beginning anew while not quite knowing what lays ahead? I hear that loud and clear.

We don’t know what to make of the future and what our work lives will look like; our past says it could be a busy, bustling office. Or it could be at that dining-table-turned-work station in our homes. It could be a mix; it could be something entirely different. As our brains try to grasp at what it thinks will happen, to create some sense of control and stability in this prolonged journey through our remote work lives, executives and managers alike are trying to figure out how to manage their teams by being cool, calm and stable, despite also being just as uncertain as the rest of us.

There’s a comfort in knowing that we’re all really figuring this out together.

Peter High, author, and president of Metis Strategy will share insights about culture, productivity, and how companies like Google and Humana are adapting to a hybrid work future. High will discuss these topics and more with Google’s VP of GTM Strategy and Operations, Kelly Ducourty. You can register for all five events in the series here.

If I didn’t work for C2C, why would I attend this series?

Reason 1:

I’m looking forward to unpacking the productivity numbers and, though the data from Prodoscore says that employees are working harder than ever before, how has it affected mental health?

A recent article in Forbes stated the following points from a survey Telus International conducted:

• 4 out of 5 workers find it hard to “shut off” in the evenings
• Over half of respondents have taken a “mental health day” since they started working from home due to the pandemic
• 97% say that vacation days while working from home are important for “recharging” — another way of saying “mental health.”
• Half of the respondents cite that their sleep patterns have been interrupted due to COVID-19, and 45% say they feel less healthy mentally while working from home.

Ducourty and High will discuss this on May 25 when we at C2C explore Culture in the Future of Work.

Reason 2:

If we consider the working study conducted by The National Bureau of Economic Research (2020), with 3 million respondents, the workday is 80 minutes longer than a year ago, so many questions arise.

Why are employees working harder? Some may say it’s because of fear and productivity tracking software, like Prodoscore.

How can companies ensure productivity continues? PWC’s remote work survey and Metis Strategy offers some insight:

• Due to the pandemic, employees who have not experienced adverse mental or physical health issues were 2x more likely to believe they are just as or even more productive.
• Employees who are satisfied with their technology and virtual tools were twice as likely to have reported improved or maintained productivity.
• Increasing social connectivity rates were correlated with 3.2x more employees feeling productive or more productive than pre-COVID.

What about managing employees’ time? Are companies offering flexible schedules or other concessions as a result of the increased output? Micromanagers, a study found, have the hardest time relenting control and trusting their subordinates are meeting expectations.

Ducourty and High will discuss all this and more on April 15 when we at C2C explore the Future of Work holistically, and I’m looking forward to learning from these experts.

Reason 3:

When we don’t know what’s going to happen, we can let our brains fill in the gaps and tell us what it thinks will happen (yes, in this example, our minds are separate from our conscious selves), or we can discuss it and shape it one day at a time and continue to face the future #allintogether.

Originally published at https://contentsabina.medium.com on April 13, 2021.