A Hugger’s Guide to Post-Pandemic Workplace
I’m a hugger. And I’m an introvert.
This means that I’m very particular about when to practice hugs because I don’t have an abundant supply of them. They are also very important to me. I could totally do a hand wave or sup nod instead of a handshake. But imagining the post-pandemic world without hugs already makes my heart ache.
Global cases have surpassed 3 million, over 200,000 people are dead, the world’s economy is crumbling, and I’m worried about my hugs? Well, as a matter of fact, these are the reasons why I’m worried about hugs!
So far, the pandemic seems to have successfully dissolved worlds of diverse social norms and personal rituals into concise lists of preventive measures to suppress transmission of the virus. These lists are necessary and critical, but also, quite disempowering. Here are some action verbs in OSHA’s return to work document: Reduce, limit, isolate, control, minimize, discontinue, require, and inspect. Verbs like promote and encourage are also sprinkled in the document but only to reinforce the overall tone.
Workplace designers and strategists are also generating similar documents — mostly revolving around the following themes:
Protocols to promote hygienic measures and regular cleaning;
Prioritizing infection control in design elements and materials;
Changes to HVAC system;
Creating more enclosure;
Reducing employee presence in the workplace;
Using environmental cues to keep people 6’ apart and avoid cross-traffic (previously known as “serendipitous interactions”); and,
Removing sharable items (previously known as “collaboration tools”) from meeting spaces.
Makes me think. The pandemic is forcing us to react by closing many doors, but can we exercise our agency to proactively open some completely new ones? In times like these, if you don’t wanna lose things that matter, you gotta reframe them in different ways. Or reframe what looks like a problem into a new opportunity:
How might we turn safety measures (e.g. closures, personal protective equipment, environmental cues, etc.) into aesthetic and refreshing features unique to our company?
How might we use de-densification as an opportunity to (finally) get more focused work done or spend more time in the flow state at the workplace?
How might we turn the return to work health screen process into a bonding activity?
How might we allow for serendipitous encounters to happen in a safe way?
How might we gamify not touching things (maybe all surfaces are lava!)?
How might we keep growing our workplace culture as we allow and encourage many of our employees to work from home?
How might we make all the high-touch areas obvious for cleaning purposes (maybe they are all bright pink color!)?
How might we make it easy for employees to track what is clean and what is not?
How might we allow for high flexibility and control over environment while keeping shared spaces safe?
How might we share physical resources among each other in a safe way?
In a nutshell:
How might we make people feel in control of their health as opposed to the other way around?
As a designer and strategist, I encourage all companies to proactively and optimistically participate in shaping the narrative by tapping into the genius of their organizations.
It starts by rallying our employees around reframing problems and asking the right questions, generating tailored ideas in response to those questions, and prototyping new ideas and rituals to gradually reshape our workplace and culture in fresh ways. Thanks to Scott and Robin, my company has already started doing this.
What happened to “hugging” you ask?
Well let me see. I hug to greet my friends. And on occasion, I hug to express my support or appreciation of someone. So, I guess:
How might we express deep support or appreciation of someone in three seconds or less without touching or using words?!
Send some ideas or “how might we” statements my way when you get a chance!
