The 3 C’s of Business

Collaboration   +   Connection   =   Culture

All three are linked, although “Culture” is an outcome of “Collaboration” and “Connection” in a genuine sense. You can have collaboration by putting a team of people into the same room, but if they don’t develop an authentic connection, whatever culture is produced from the environment will be forced and most probably unsustainable.

It is with this base of thinking that I have read several articles recently about the continuing development of hybrid work environments and how many larger organisations are looking to position themselves as innovative and agile.

Covid 19 has certainly brought forward many long-term plans as the speed of change within the commercial environment has been breathtaking at times. During the early days of the pandemic, as a small business owner, our business needed to be both agile and connected (with our clients, field staff and our team) as things were changing on an hourly basis.

Since that challenging time, many organisations have evolved into a hybrid working environment of a mix of working in the office and working from home. It has proved to be appealing to many people, particularly young families, for several reasons. I’m not sure the impact positively or negatively in terms of an individual’s mental health has been identified, as this is still a relatively new evolution. However, I do feel that such a way of working does compromise collaboration, connection and culture.

Depending on the primary function of the organisation, many tasks can be achieved remotely across industries and connection can be maintained through regular video calls. But collaboration is limited in a remote environment and this can only have a negative impact on an organisation’s culture. It is hard to collaborate from the spare bedroom.

So, I think that the discussion of hybrid working environments will be overtaken by a greater focus on a 4-day working week (which is already being trialed by organisations). And it is these organisations who are the true innovators.