Over the couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the need to be “present” in the office. It started with sitting at the Redskins’ playoff game watching the brilliant Robert Griffin III “man up” to play through his injury….with devastating results. This was followed by returning to work to sit next to a colleague with a very loud, very yucky, chronic cough, and news headlines about the flu outbreak.
PEOPLE, please realize that the best way to support your business or team is not always being present! Work from home if you can, let a healthy teammate step in if your illness (or injury) is hampering your performance.
That said, the culture of the workplace and of the professional sports world, is to be present regardless of whether it’s the right thing to do or not – “presenteeism.” Even many modern companies who promote mobility strongly encourage their employees to be at the office if they are not at a client site.
While thinking about all of these driving forces to be in the office, I stumbled upon the January-February 2013 edition of the Harvard Business Review and an interesting Article by Tammy Johns and Lynda Gratton: The Third Wave of Virtual Work.
This article addresses the evolution of the [virtual] workplace:
• Wave 1: Virtual Freelancers – the first set of virtual workers severed ties from companies in order to gain greater freedom and flexibility.
• Wave 2: Virtual Corporate Colleagues – the second set of virtual workers included full-time employees who work remotely, either flexibly form home, or full time from home.
• Wave 3: Virtual Coworkers – while many advantages came from the second wave, companies were/are finding that the sense of community and collaboration/knowledge sharing are suffering. In terms of space, the authors note a trend in employers providing a shared environment, pushing for physical colocation of colleagues.
So what? Yes, collaboration is important. Yes, knowledge sharing is important. Yes, community is important. Yes, being there for your team is important. Do you have to be physically present for these things to happen? Absolutely not! Sure, it makes things easier, but we need to all be cognizant of when it’s not the right thing to do.
Just ask RG3’s poor knee…
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