Can a £26 burger predict who returns to the office?
On Sunday night, a friend took me to the NoMad hotel in Covent Garden for the most perfect burger and Negroni. The place was the very definition of the draw of cities: a dramatic magistrates’ court, a luscious red velvet and leather library (with genuine books), and an oval marble bar that Jay Gatsby should’ve been draped against, cigarette in hand.
But, is the excitement of such places enough to pull us back into town?
The Centre for Cities hopes so. I was on BBC5Live this week with them and Adrian Chiles, and they both predict that the bustle and opportunity of cities will have us back to full-time office working before you know it. Of course you can argue that they would say that—their funders include commercial real estate and transport companies…
But that doesn’t mean they are wholly wrong either.
Hybrid in a pre-pandemic world
In 2013 when we founded Jericho Chambers, we gathered together a group of consultants and took on a beautiful space where people could come and go and as they pleased. From that experience, my take on what will determine if you stick with remote/hybrid or return to office-first will depend on:
Culture
Don’t underestimate how hard it can be to release the reigns of control—if you have been used to teams that are visible, that power can be hard to let go of.
Of course, for professional service firms it is usually cloaked in “client need”. Our experience was that clients expect consultants to be on the move and are far more tolerant than anticipated. Which is exactly what Alex Soojung Kim Pang found in his research for Shorter about the four day week.
Tech Disparity
“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run”feels apt for the incredible volume of businesses upgrading their tech hardware.
If those in the room around the tech have more say-so in the post-call wrap up than those online, then the draw to return to the office will be strong.
The Importance of Prestige
We’ve talked before about the challenge for Steve the lawyer charging clients £800 an hour from his back bedroom,surrounded by Lego, rather than say the elegance of Africa House on Kingsway. If Steve is charging the big bucks, and everyone else is in the office, how long will he hold out at home?
If you have an office that is known for its showiness… watch out.
Which brings me to that delicious £26-not-including-chips-burger, which in reality of course wasn’t what drew me into town. I went because I wanted to see my friend. We could have eaten at the greasy spoon and been happy—or I could have done, not so sure about her. My prediction is that the people who need people will be back more than they expect; the introverts less than their bosses may hope.
Two recommendations this week:
If you need light relief, try the podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me, which is mostly two Irish women screaming with laughter.
If you have a teen or tween girl, you MUST read Untangled by Lisa Damour.
Next Week:
What do we need to know about authority?
Christine
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Takeaways
Culture:
Need for prestige /certainty in an uncertain world (law firms). Steve at his stylish Mischon office at Africa house vs Steve in his back bedroom surrounded by suitcases and old lego. Mad Men.
Need for innovation (tech)
Autocracy vs democracy - Dick – Goldmans/Apple vs John Lewis
Joy of work – ad agencies, music company, canteens with free food, gyms, etc. NHS finance – are hoping never to pay NHS car park fees again.
Tech to replicate human connections.
Hearing every day that Zoom doesn’t really work in open plan and doesn’t work when you’re moving around for meetings and work
Review of the new tech solutions that companies are spending millions on – will they replicate the eye-rolling, smirking, coffee chats of real life?
Will they allow those that want to work at home all the time to keep up with trends/changing world of work. Will they know who Charlie D’Amilio is??
How will we boundary real work from comms? – office space, quiet, disco & private carriages.
WFNH
Talent & inclusion
We are being told that people are quitting jobs if they are not new offering some remote work.
Much has been said, especially about women and caring. Now schools have returned, woman are saying that working at home is transformational if they can do the school runs, be there for dentist / doctor appointments and so on.
Are companies & governments paying lip service to addressing - 25% loss of pipeline in in some cases or is it real?
Will we get to companies insisting some groups – eg those in small city centre flats - cannot come in because it disadvantages those with caring responsibilities?
Nothing very very good or very very bad lasts
