I’m beginning to identify with a Hermit Crab. Is it time to leave my shell?

 

A safe haven. A familiar place. A home. A workplace.

But I did it.

 

And I’ve not just started to like it, I’ve become ADDICTED. I’ve got used to the 30 second commute, the new dress code, the fact that I sometimes have to start the car just to make sure it still works (if ever I need it). I LIKE being able to run my own race, limit distractions and work around school pick up and dinner-times. I LIKE that even my friends don’t have expectations of me anymore, and a weekend relaxing at home isn’t considered a weekend wasted. I’m more productive, I’m more focussed and I’m happier. So is my dog, Axel (Happier, that is. He’s not particularly productive 😉

 

So when I think about having to go into the office, I feel a little panicked. When I have to go to a customer site, I wonder whether I’ll remember how. Am I becoming a Hermit? Am I withdrawing into my shell? I think so.

 

But the reality is that as a business owner, a leader, I can’t let myself be pulled away. I have to drive our core purpose, live our values and our culture, which can’t be done from home (In fairness, some of it can be done from home, and will be from now on. That’s because of our values and because of our culture). As much as we might want everything to work just as well from home, as much as we might be urged by our employees for everything to work the same from home, as much as we are excited by the possibility of reducing rents and minimising the cost of a physical shopfront etc, we have to remember that culture is such a major factor in an organisation, both in attracting and retaining staff, but also in shaping the relationship with our customers.

 

 

Without first defining our culture, and then understanding the impact that the physical office space makes on our culture (remembering that this period of working from home was the same for all of our employees, all of our suppliers and all of our customers so can’t really be used as an accurate measure), and then factoring this into the long term WFH conversation, you may just lose the connection and engagement that you’ve worked really hard to establish.