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The Social Aspect of Work – Redefined

Nov 21, 2011 » by Cali & Jody

There’s a lot of talk in the work/life arena about the social aspect of work.

It goes something like this:

“When you go to a Results-Only Work Environment, you lose the social aspect of work and people don’t want that to be lost.”

Let’s analyze that statement.

Is it the organization’s role to manage their employees social lives? Is it up to employers to make sure there are social opportunities for employees? We say, NO.


People Will Be Social

The company doesn’t need to tell employees how to be social or force people to be together whether they want to or not.

In fact, it’s the very “socialness” of the traditional workplace that causes us to focus on everything but the work.

“Did you complete your deliverable on time?”

“No, I was being social and collaborating in a transparent fashion while we were getting laser focused on next steps.”

Sounds like work, doesn’t it?


How Do You Define Social?

The challenge is how we define what it means to be ‘social.’ For the baby boomer generation, social means everyone together in the same place. If that is the definition, then a large part of the workforce (80 million boomers) is going to have issues with a workplace where “place” is optional.

Does Gen Y appear anti-social? They are interacting with people on-the-fly globally. They use emoticons to communicate emotion. When they want to physically see their close friends, they get together. Social for them looks different. They want to be social on their own terms (I choose when I go into the office).


Social Aspect of Work Redefined

One of our clients said this when we posed the question in our training forum and it sums up everything we’re talking about here:

Q: When groups implement ROWE, we sometimes hear that they miss seeing people, the human interaction is less. Is that true for your organizations? How do you keep the human side of relationships going in a ROWE?

A: I think initially people did miss the social aspect, but as time elapses and we become more and more focused on results rather than “work,” the feeling has subsided for most people. We do have some individuals that continue to have this need and they do seek out co-workers to join them for lunch, or coffee or cocktails. It’s 100% up to the individual to make that connection, though. It’s not our job, as the employer, to ensure social needs are met and for that reason, we do not host or coordinate such activities. Pre-ROWE, we did coordinate these types of activities and for many people it was a forced and uncomfortable attendance and just another display of presenteeism. It’s nice to socialize with co-workers because you WANT to and not because you feel compelled to do so just to give the boss the appearance that you’re engaged.

What are your needs when it comes to the social aspect of work? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

  • Jordan Pine

    I think this is absolutely right, and the social aspect isn’t necessarily lost just because one’s office hours are erratic. I met my wife at the office (she was a vendor), but we didn’t hit it off until an industry trade show. Some people would say we never would have met if we didn’t both work in a traditional office environment. But I say: We had no choice. Where else can you meet people besides your industry when you are chained to your desk? Maybe if everyone was free and working under ROWE, people wouldn’t have to choose between loneliness and getting lucky and meeting someone great through work (like I did). Maybe we’d actually have room for a real social life!

  • http://twitter.com/caliressler Cali Ressler

    Another positive consequence of ROWE: Dating lives improve! 

    Thanks for the comment, Jordan.  Glad you and your wife made the connection you did!

  • Jody Thompson

    Right on, Jordan – in a ROWE, you have a LIFE. 

  • http://blog.conmergence.com ed_dodds

    I’ve found that since I’ve adopted broadband I don’t meet in real space with as many people and as often (HOA, Mission Committee at my congregation, etc.) but since I’m no longer consciously geo-locked, I feel like I have permission to interact with people online anywhere on the planet, regardless wealth, class, status, education, etc. who self-identify themselves as open to this (Facebook, LinkedIn groups, Ning networks, blogs with subscriptions, Google Buzz/Plus/Wave, Twitter, Yammer communities, Youtube, etc.). I can promote venture capital in Africa (via vc4africa.biz) from my home office in Nashville better than if I were traveling in those transportation systems. A tech author I read often, Peter Varhol, just posted a very ROWE-ish story http://pvarhol.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/a-new-internet-connection-strategy and I get to gain insight from cutting edge science because folks are willing to publish their materials using tools like Google Sites https://sites.google.com/site/toaunifiedci/sc11-bof for example, the “Towards a Unified Cyberinfrastucture” Birds of a Feather group at the lastest Super Computing 11 event. I think Social for me is goal oriented rather than whatever goes on at the water cooler.

    • http://twitter.com/caliressler Cali Ressler

      “Since I’m no longer consciously geo-locked, I feel like I have permission to interact with people online anywhere on the planet, regardless of wealth, class, status, education, etc. who self-identify themselves as open to this.”  Beautiful.  And guess what?  I’m going to communicate this quote all over the world right now…with the clicks of a few buttons :)  

      Thanks, Ed.

  • Anonymous

    Relationships can’t be manipulated or forced, unless appearances and/or control are what is really desired.  So let’s leave the 2 “R’s”-relationships and results-alone.  ROWE does this best.

    • Shelly Sorenson

      Absolutely! 

  • Anonymous

    People DO need social lives, but that doesn’t really tell the story.

    The story is that we spend so much time at the office, we end up developing social relationships. If we didn’t focus on how much face-time we clocked, but rather what results were actually produced, we would have the time to be social elsewhere.

    • Jody Thompson

      Robby – right on. Get results? Hang out with who I want to hang out with. Period.

      • Anonymous

        WHAT? YOU WANT TO HAVE THE FREEDOM TO DO WHAT YOU WANT BECAUSE YOU WORKED HARD AND PRODUCED SOMETHING???

        Oh yeah, that kinda does make sense.
        :)

  • David M. Kasprzak

    Good thoughts.

    I think it’s important to draw a distinction between larger, societal trends and the ROWE movement (And, yes, I do believe it is a labor movement, at least in part)

    More than a few observers have noted that interpersonal communication is changing, and that there is a lessening of face-to-face communication in all respects – not just the workplace.  We are all using social media to interact more, and it does have its drawbacks.  That much is not arguable.  Yes, it has its benefits – broader spheres of communication and much, much greater opportunities to interact with people we’d never otherwise even know, much less interact with.  It does, however, have plenty of drawbacks – the fleeting nature of interaction and the ease of anonymity tend to diminish the need for respect and fail to create the same bonds as face-to-face interactions.

    To lay that at the feet of ROWE is like laying Humpty Dumpty’s fall at the feet of all of the King’s men:  There were larger forces at play (like gravity) that the actors in the story neither created nor controlled.

    I believe that ROWE is a response to changing societal trends.  Both our understanding of psychology and the development of technology have evolved to the point where the environment is changing, which necessitates a change in mindset.  ROWE is the outcome produced when that change in mindset is realized.

    • Jody Thompson

      David – Love the Humpty Dumpty analogy. And you’re right. A change in mindset is imminent. Sooner or later we have to let go of 1950 and embrace 2011.  Sooner would be good.

  • http://twitter.com/edsiusa EDSI

    Being “social on your own terms” is a good distinction to make. There are many ways to have interaction with others by choice, whether you work in a traditional office or work from home or have a coworking situation. Great post!

  • Quinetta Wilson

    After kicking off ROWE in our work group we discovered people were disconnected for about a month or so until they realized that they had to make the social/collaborative thing happen for themselves. We are “results focused” and  often those results are about people working collaboratively to meet their results. We still coordinate team building activities within our group however every meeting is optional and now it is their choice how often they choose to attend in addition to what they make happen on their own.  

    • Shelly Sorenson

      Good point!  I would agree with going through a period of being disconnected.”  I did…until I realized my social interactions were my doing and no one else’s.     

      • Jody Thompson

        At Best Buy we used to call team building ‘forced fun’. Good thing a Quinetta’s workplace it’s not forced!

  • Christy Runningen

    I always find it interesting when I look back at my corporate jobs and realize that many of the individuals I was social with at the office were not people I stay in touch with.  It is one thing to truly enjoy the company of co-workers and something entirely different to socialize only because you’re in close quarters.

    • http://twitter.com/caliressler Cali Ressler

      I agree!  It’s interesting when you think about the people you were/are social with at the office and ask yourself “If I met them at a party, would I want to keep talking with them or would I want to be ‘rescued’?” :)

  • Dave Needham

    I spent a lot of my training time trying to help people communicate with people they did not necessarily want to be around. One distinction I always made was “in most workplaces, the difference between our personal relationships and work relationships is at work, we don’t always get a choice in who we are around.” In a ROWE that becomes more of a grey area.  You may still need to interact with people for business needs but the everyday chit-chat socializing that causes some people friction now becomes an exercise in choice rather than forced proximity. I think it changes the game provides an environment where you truly do not have to be friends, but you do have to have a certain level of respect.

  • Vickie

    I completely agree. In our work on teams, it’s up to them how they interact, when and why. As long as a great product gets delivered on time every time, e bosses are happy.