The WORKP2P Sidekicks explore the ins and outs of setting up the perfect home office and discuss the evolving landscape of remote and hybrid work. With insights into productivity, trust, and community, we share what it takes to thrive while working from home.
Key Takeaways:
- The Shift to Hybrid Work: Understand the benefits and challenges of hybrid work models, including the importance of intentional breaks and trust.
- Building Community: Learn about the value of community in business and how Secret Sidekick Suppers can foster deeper connections.
- Home Office Essentials: From second monitors to water bottles, discover the must-have items that enhance productivity and comfort.
Guests:
Our WORKP2P sidekicks are Elan Olsen, creative sidekick; Tamar Medford, show producer; Libby Sundgren, content development manager; Alysse Bryson, VP of community development; and BEATS WORKING host Mark Wright.
Resources Mentioned:
- Contributors Corner August 2024: ”Effective Hybrid Work Strategies”
- Events: Secret Sidekick Suppers
- Organization: BEATS WORKING & WORKP2P
- Guests: Bios & LinkedIn
Quotes:
-“Trust is a two-way street; it’s about employers caring for their employees’ time and vice versa.” – Elan Olsen
-“Hybrid work offers freedom and flexibility, but it’s all about maintaining a balance.” – Mark Wright
Listener Challenge:
This week, evaluate your home office setup and identify one key item you can add to boost your productivity. Share your upgrades with us on social media using #BEATSWORKINGShow.
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Transcript
The following transcript is not certified. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. The information contained within this document is for general information purposes only.
[00:00:00] Mark Wright: to Sidekick Sessions. This month, we’re taking a look at the Hybrid Workplace and how it’s working. So, we’ve gathered the team from WorkP2P.
[00:00:10] Mark Wright: We’re going to go deep for shared learning. I’d love for the team to introduce yourselves, uh, before we get started. Tamara, why don’t you start?
[00:00:17] Tamar Medford: Hey, everybody. My name is Tamar Medford and I am the producer sidekick.
[00:00:23] Mark Wright: Alysse,
[00:00:24] Alysse Bryson: Hello, everyone. My name is Alysse Bryson, and I, I like to sidekick. I sidekick all kinds of things.
[00:00:30] Mark Wright: Sidekick is interacting with people in a way that benefits them, right?
[00:00:35] Alysse Bryson: Yeah, and I don’t, I don’t actually kick anybody, just to be clear. I’m not kicking anyone.
[00:00:39] Mark Wright: Good, good to know. All right, Elan.
[00:00:42] Elan Olsen: Hi, I’m Elan Olsen and I’m the creative sidekick.
[00:00:46] Mark Wright: And finally Libby.
[00:00:47] Libby Sundgren: Hello, I’m Libby Sundgren and I, uh, develop content here at work PDP.
[00:00:53] Mark Wright: All right, I’d love to kick off this session by asking each of you what your perceptions [00:01:00] of the transition to hybrid work are., some of the latest polling shows that about 70 percent of companies in the U. S. now are doing some version of hybrid work., and it was a trend, as we all know, that started before the pandemic.
[00:01:14] Mark Wright: It was accentuated, accelerated by the pandemic. And this transition is continuing. Where it will stop, we don’t really know., on Contributor’s Corner. Which is also dropping this month. We talked with Jason Lauritsen, a workplace expert who’s trying to fix work. And really that discussion came down to.
[00:01:32] Mark Wright: Employers really need to instill trust in their employees and also communicate very clearly what expectations are., and we talked a lot about communication, and what it should be in the context of, of hybrid work, but I’d love to just get kind of a snapshot from each of you. Alysse, why don’t you start us?
[00:01:52] Mark Wright:, what’s been your perception of this shift to hybrid work?
[00:01:56] Alysse Bryson: Well, I love it. I love it so [00:02:00] much., I can’t imagine going back into a, a regular, everyday commuting office environment. I think of that as the thing of the past. The, and I, I just, I was driving the other day and I was thinking about like, you know, just the getting ready and the commuting and maybe the stops that I would make and, and the packing the lunch or going out to lunch, like all these things factored in all this energy and time and planning, right.
[00:02:29] Alysse Bryson: Planning and, I don’t, my kid has grown now, but there was definitely, I had to factor him into all of that. commuting and driving and picking up and dropping off and I don’t have to do any of that now., I can log in and work from literally wherever as long as I have strong Wi Fi, good coffee, and air conditioning, like I’m pretty good to go.
[00:02:51] Alysse Bryson:, and so I find that I still work just as much actually. I don’t think I’m [00:03:00] working less. I just get a lot more done. Uh, and there’s so many of my calls now that I take on Teams or on Zoom that that just feels very normal to me, but there is a certain amount of fatigue that happens. Like, on a heavy day, if I have too many, I have to be on camera calls back to back to back to back to back, there’s a certain point that I will Hit my trough, which we have all joked about before, or just screen fatigue, you know, where it’s just like, I can’t stare at the screen anymore.
[00:03:31] Alysse Bryson: But I don’t know, I don’t know that I could go back to the way it was before., I think this is the new, the new version of Alysse 2. 0.
[00:03:40] Mark Wright: What do you think the biggest benefit, Alysse, is of hybrid or remote work?
[00:03:44] Alysse Bryson: Well, I’d love to just say something really smart like sustainability. I’m being so much nicer to the environment by not like traveling and doing all these things, but no, in all honesty, I have senior dogs, right? My dogs are getting older. And, uh, so I get to be home with them all [00:04:00] the time. And that is a benefit to both of us.
[00:04:04] Alysse Bryson:, I, and I also, like, it’s summertime, so, like, I can go out and make sure my garden is getting the right water or the right sun. I can do my laundry. I can do all the other types of things, so that when I do really want to turn everything off, I have then more free time to go. And, I don’t know, it’s just, it just works.
[00:04:22] Alysse Bryson: But, I would say, Mark, There is, it comes at a cost, right? And I am, people would probably think of me as very much a people person. And so if I’m not intentional around in person meetups with people, I could go weeks without seeing somebody in person. And that’s actually not a good thing for somebody like me.
[00:04:43] Alysse Bryson:, I’m an extrovert that is also an introvert at times. And so I do need a certain amount of recharge time. But, If I go too long without seeing people in person, I get a little, like, weird in my own head, if that makes sense., so there has to be [00:05:00] some intentionality around spending time with humans at some point.
[00:05:04] Mark Wright: That makes sense. That makes sense. Elan, what about you? What are your perceptions of this shift to hybrid?
[00:05:10] Elan Olsen: Well, I agree with pretty much everything Alysse said. I mean, I, during the pandemic was an essential employee somehow in retail. I don’t know how that happened, but, uh, you know, I went from fully in person to being hybrid pretty quickly and never having a hybrid or remote job before this, and just the immense amount of.
[00:05:34] Elan Olsen: Time that is being given back to actually being productive at work. Cause well, what Alysse was saying, you know, you wake up, you have to eat or get ready or exercise, commute and get there. And that’s, you know, between one and three hours, depending on where you live. If you wear makeup, all sorts of things like that.
[00:05:57] Elan Olsen: And that’s all time that you’re giving to the company, but it’s [00:06:00] not productive time. So in a hybrid environment, the efficiency, the level of output that I think employees are able to produce is significantly greater. I think the con to that though is, I mean, I’ll speak for myself. I find it more challenging to schedule breaks into my day or to schedule meals or food into my day.
[00:06:23] Elan Olsen:, Because I’m just sitting at my desk, I don’t have anywhere else to be, you know, it’s my house. So I think that’s one of the cons of the hybrid environment is I think productivity skyrockets, but so does, the burnout can skyrocket as well, especially with the Zoom fatigue, if it’s never ending. And you’re not taking breaks as frequently, which I think is pretty common with at home or hybrid work.
[00:06:48] Elan Olsen:, But I also live in a world where housing is intensely expensive, and so pretty much all of my money goes to this house. So, I don’t [00:07:00] necessarily want to leave it, cause, I am paying a lot to enjoy this space. So it, as Alysse said as well, you know, being able to go and work outside in my backyard, like that’s such a gift that I, I don’t think I could go back to in person, fully in person and sacrifice, the enjoyment of the space that I’m working to pay
[00:07:21] Mark Wright: guessing a lot of people have started writing off their home offices now that they’re doing a significant amount of work at home. Those are all good points., libby, what about you?
[00:07:30] Libby Sundgren: Well, I echo many of the sentiments that Alysse and Elan shared. It is. I can’t imagine going back to being in an office five days a week, or even four days a week. We do a four day work week, but I, it would be just not my thing to go into the office four days a week anymore.
[00:07:53] Libby Sundgren: You know, it’s, you cut out that commute time. I mean, there are some, downsides, but I have two young [00:08:00] kids and being able to spend even just an extra 30 minutes or an extra hour with them a day instead of, driving, is really, It’s just, it’s pretty amazing., and you know, I do have to say it as a mother, it feels like having that flexibility to work from home really helps eliminate the, not all of it, but some of that guilt that you have as a working parent where you feel like you’re either neglecting your job or you’re neglecting your kids and not having. To commute and having that kind of flexibility really makes me feel like I can give. What I want to give to my job and what I need to give, and then also reciprocate that in my home life. I mean, it’s not perfect and it’s not always, equal, but, but it really does help, with that kind of balance and that mental load that I think, you know, many [00:09:00] parents carry
[00:09:01] Mark Wright: Yeah,
[00:09:02] Libby Sundgren: kids are, you know, young and have family.
[00:09:05] Libby Sundgren: Yeah,
[00:09:06] Mark Wright: when, when you do have young kids and you’re tied to that physical space that you’ve got to commute and spend time there, it must be stressful when you have doctor’s appointments and a sick kid and, you know, fill in the blank that, uh, that lack of flexibility., is probably stressful, you know, for a lot of parents and hybrid work has really freed up a lot of people to take care of that stuff at home.
[00:09:29] Mark Wright: And, you know, when the kids go to sleep, you could finish up a project or something that you, that you couldn’t get done during the day or
[00:09:35] Libby Sundgren: yeah, it can always work. Always work later. I don’t usually, but, but I, but I can. And, you know, I feel like when I first joined the workforce out of college, it was probably I think partly an organizational, culture, but also kind of just the culture in general was that remote work [00:10:00] was, I mean, it just like, wasn’t really a thing.
[00:10:02] Libby Sundgren: You didn’t do that. And if somebody did, you were either jealous that they got to do it, or you were like, you’re not really working. You’re not actually doing it. You know, you’re not actually doing your job. And so whether I was doing it or I was managing people who were doing it, there was always this pressure that like, somebody who’s working from home, they’re not really working.
[00:10:26] Libby Sundgren: That’s not really an acceptable, you know, way to work. To work and be productive, even though there were some people who were 10 times more productive at home, and the feeling has really, shifted. I mean, in myself, definitely, but I just feel like in general, in the workplace that, that you can be wildly productive at home and that it is beneficial for the employee and the employer.
[00:10:54] Mark Wright: That’s great. Tomorrow. Any thoughts?
[00:10:57] Tamar Medford: Well, I think obviously for me, it’s a benefit [00:11:00] to be able to work hybrid because I am the one, that works in Vancouver, BC, Canada, right? So, I think that it’s amazing, or else I wouldn’t have this kind of opportunity if hybrid businesses were not there., I think that it also, you know, I, I, you know, second, What everybody on this call has said is, I also think it takes a bit of maturity to be able to work in this kind of format because you do have to be more intentional when you’re working at home.
[00:11:31] Tamar Medford:, I tend to overwork because I’ll be like, oh, I can just see this email and I’ll flip over my computer. So I have to be very intentional about shutting it off at a certain point as well., and you know, like Elan said, I don’t, I’m not always good at taking breaks. So I’m trying to be intentional about that, but I find that I enjoy working by myself sometimes because, you know, we use a lot of different tools in work P2P.
[00:11:55] Tamar Medford: And one of them is the top six. And when I follow that, I can be [00:12:00] incredibly productive, right? I just have to make sure I stay focused., I do also like the option of being able to come into the office once in a while. I think for me, especially, it adds that connection element, getting to see everybody in person, you know, being able to say hi.
[00:12:15] Tamar Medford: And I think You know, when we do get everybody together that comes from out of town, we do some fun things, right? Dan will make it fun for us. We do a big, you know, sync, a meeting, or something. So I really enjoy it because I, I really, the gift of time now being a co parent, uh, which I never had to worry about before.
[00:12:35] Tamar Medford: You do need a little bit more flexibility. Like, I don’t know how some people that just have a nine to five job and their, their leadership is super rigid about them not being able to be flexible when they have kids. I don’t know how parents can function like that., but yeah, we’ve done it for a long time, so.
[00:12:55] Tamar Medford: I just think the gift of time, you know, not having to spend that time in the car and, being [00:13:00] able to get up and get ready and you can make your lunch at lunch. You don’t have to pack it ahead of time. So, or you can, you can order. There’s lots of apps for that now. So.
[00:13:10] Mark Wright: Alysse, when your son was younger, I’d love to explore that because back then a lot of employers simply said remote work doesn’t work. Like you, there’s no way you can do the job. You have to be here, blah, blah, blah. The pandemic proved that a lot of the jobs, since we have a service based economy in the U.
[00:13:27] Mark Wright: S., a lot of jobs can be done remotely., did you ever have the opportunity when your son was younger, to work remotely or how was that?
[00:13:35] Alysse Bryson: I did, and as we were sitting here talking, I started to smile and laugh. Cause I, uh, we moved quite, we, I like to move apparently. We moved, uh, every couple of years we would move. And so I was thinking of two different places specifically., when Libby and I were working at the magazine where I worked remote.
[00:13:51] Alysse Bryson: And the first time I ever worked remote, I had a red Dell laptop. And I was able to log in [00:14:00] to, to my email on the internet. So it wasn’t, it wasn’t, I didn’t have a work laptop. It was my personal laptop, but I could do it remote. And there was this one day, I don’t know if Jacob was sick or I think he was sick or something.
[00:14:12] Alysse Bryson: And so I was like, well, I’ll be at home and I’ll, I’ll work remote. And, and I, I didn’t work you guys. I, I had my, and it, the way that it worked was if you were at the office and you walked by my desk, you would see that you would see what I was doing on my screen because it was like, yeah, what do you do that?
[00:14:29] Alysse Bryson: The takeover or whatever. So
[00:14:31] Libby Sundgren: Yeah, it was called Log Me In.
[00:14:32] Alysse Bryson: log me in. Thank you Libby. And so, uh, and so I faked it. I sat there watching TV and just played around with my mouse, just moving stuff like I was like researching. I remember doing that like, like a child. now that was like a long, long, long time ago and probably only once or twice.
[00:14:50] Libby Sundgren: to be fair, Log Me In was a very slow connection. So I don’t think we, we were not set up to work successfully from home. I think that’s also the issue. [00:15:00] There was not the support from a company to make you successful at home.
[00:15:05] Alysse Bryson: But once, once I got a work laptop, you guys, whoa, big time, and then I was actually traveling quite a bit. So I would, mostly I was just doing email and whatever our, we had a CRM that I would have to log in and out to and like, and pulling numbers., so I would do that remote, and honestly, that’s where my workaholism really took off because I would work, work, work, work, work.
[00:15:28] Alysse Bryson: And then I would have a long commute. I would come home. I would do whatever I needed to do with Jacob. And then I would work, work, work, work, work some more. And I had a really hard time turning off, a really hard time turning off. so it went from being the person who was faking it to being the person that could not stop working.
[00:15:46] Alysse Bryson:, in, you know, a couple year time span, basically.
[00:15:49] Mark Wright: I’m wondering what the expectation is now of people just entering the workforce. Elan, how many of your friends would you say are working remotely at [00:16:00] least part of the time in their jobs? Like as a percentage.
[00:16:03] Elan Olsen: percent of them, so over 50%.
[00:16:10] Mark Wright: Yeah. And I think this expectation, you know, is, is kind of there for people who are younger in the workforce. But I think also even people older, like, uh, like me, I think we have seen that this can be done and it can be done effectively. yeah, Alysse.
[00:16:29] Alysse Bryson: One thing that I also was thinking about is, prior to remote work, how much time I spent on my phone checking and responding to email versus now. I almost never use my phone for that. I use my phone for other nonsensical reasons, like shopping on Amazon and TikTok, uh, and Instagram, but like I don’t, I don’t, I, I spend way less time on my phone because of the fact it’s just, no, it’s just easier to like jump on [00:17:00] my laptop wherever I’m at.
[00:17:01] Alysse Bryson: So I think that’s an interesting change too, because at one point I was overusing my phone so much, that I had, I had textures done and I had to get like a brace. It was like a whole thing because I was, I was on my phone way too much., and so I think that’s another interesting part that remote, at least for me, remote work has changed how much time I have a phone in my hand.
[00:17:22] Mark Wright: One thing that I think is interesting is that in downtown Seattle, as of today, roughly, it’s estimated that about 60 percent of the workforce has returned in person and 40 percent are working At least part of the time from home. And what’s interesting is that a lot of the leases on these high rise buildings in downtown Seattle are going to be coming up in the next five years or so.
[00:17:47] Mark Wright: And a lot of people are speculating that, banks are going to probably take over that people will default on the loans for those buildings because so many companies are giving up office space because they simply don’t need [00:18:00] it anymore. And I think early on, as we came out of the pandemic, a lot of managers were thinking, I’m paying.
[00:18:05] Mark Wright: X amount of tens of thousands of dollars a month in rent for this place and everybody’s at home. And I think a lot of the drive to quote, get back to work in air quotes, was driven by that fact that real estate is expensive and a lot of companies, were paying. What’s going to be interesting to see is where that levels out.
[00:18:25] Mark Wright: And what happens to those skyscrapers that are really only single use, you can’t really convert them effectively to condominiums or things like that. They just don’t have the plumbing and the infrastructure for that., the other thing that came from our conversation with Jason, Lauritzen, and, and I encourage you guys to, to check out the contributors corner, this month, it was a really great, great episode.
[00:18:46] Mark Wright:, but another thing that was talked about was really clear expectations drawn out by employers and managers. So that when people are working remotely, that it’s absolutely crystal clear what the expectation [00:19:00] is. And I’d love. Any of your thoughts on, what’s the best way to do that, you know, in terms of communication?
[00:19:06] Mark Wright: Because when you’re not sitting over someone’s shoulder or in the same room, you really don’t know what they’re doing and when they’re doing it. Any thoughts
[00:19:15] Alysse Bryson: I think there’s a part that does get missed and that is Well, there’s a social part, right? Because, the last place that I worked that was in person, we were an open floor concept. Open, so it was there, there were no walls, right? And, and so you could overhear conversations by the copier, you know, across, from the pod, whatever.
[00:19:36] Alysse Bryson: And yeah, sometimes those conversations were of the social nature. So you knew if somebody was having a birthday or somebody just had a baby or whatever, but you also heard different things that were work related that, was like, Oh, I didn’t know that, that served as some kind of inspiration or collaborative that I think to still be collaborative, you have to have, be more intentional.
[00:19:58] Alysse Bryson: around [00:20:00] getting together and what you’re trying to do versus it used to kind of happen sometimes organically if that makes sense., but then there’s so much of that of the social that was, I was not working. So it’s like I tried to think about like how much when I was going into an office how much was I actually working versus walking around just talking to people.
[00:20:18] Alysse Bryson: I mean I walked around and talked to a lot of people to be clear.
[00:20:22] Mark Wright: I think you and I are very similar in that
[00:20:24] Alysse Bryson: just Alysse and Mark walking around the building just doing another lap.
[00:20:28] Mark Wright: pretending to go get more coffee.
[00:20:30] Alysse Bryson: Oh yeah, I need some more coffee on the second floor. Yeah.
[00:20:33] Mark Wright: That’s good. Yeah, that intentionality I think is another big part of this is that when we’re all remote now, in terms of building culture in terms of building institutional knowledge, companies are having to get creative because when they call people back and say, Hey, everybody has to be in the office at least once a week. And when people don’t have a clear understanding of the benefit of that directive, I think that’s [00:21:00] when we’re running into trouble. And I think all the experts that we’ve talked to so far say that if you have a rule, it better have a reason behind it. There has to be a why that everyone agrees with., and get on board with, because a directive with no benefit is just like, Oh gosh, the company’s just controlling my life.
[00:21:19] Mark Wright: And, that’s a big part of the struggle. I’d like to know, where do you think this whole thing is going to settle out in terms of hybrid work versus in person? Yeah, Tamar,
[00:21:30] Tamar Medford: I, I mean, you know, that Alysse joked around about the environment. I really hope that business leaders adopt this, you know, as much as they can. I know that when you have a business where you’ve got a manufacturing facility, you know, certain employees cannot work, cannot work remotely, but, I think, you know, one of the biggest things I traveled before the pandemic.
[00:21:53] Tamar Medford: So I had gone, you know, about a year and a half with working fully remotely., and I really enjoyed it, [00:22:00] which also created some of my, workaholism. . But, you know, when the pandemic started, I remember going outside and seeing like a blue sky and I had never seen the sky so blue before. Right? And obviously the pandemic proved that a lot of people can be incredibly productive. So having that flexibility, I think within an organization, but there has to be that trust there and that maturity, like I mentioned before, because I think all of us, we, you know, Mark, Alysse, you’re both night owls, Libby and I, Elan’s kind of midday, right?
[00:22:35] Tamar Medford: Like the, the, like, you know, a regular morning, there has to be that element of trust that, you know, if Libby and I are online at, four o’clock in the morning, and then we may leave at three because we have things to do with family, that it’s not looked upon or a perception that, oh, that person does not work as full, as much as someone like Alysse that’s emailing at one o’clock in the morning, right?
[00:22:58] Tamar Medford: So there has to be that [00:23:00] maturity, I think, from organizations and leadership that I trust that the people that I’ve hired. are doing what they need to do. And I think here at WORK P2P, that’s one of the things, you know, we were told early on is Dan said, I trust you guys, right? And, but it’s also up to us as employees to make sure that we honor that and we do what we’re supposed to and not take advantage of that either.
[00:23:23] Tamar Medford: So I really hope Organizations will, you know, hold on to this because it allows that flexibility, allows people to get what they need to get done in their life. And I think not only increasing productivity, but it can lower stress because, you know, being stuck in traffic for an hour to go to an office, I’m sure is not good for your mental health.
[00:23:44] Mark Wright: Trust is a big one. And I recall that meeting when Dan said, Hey, here’s a crazy idea. I trust you. I trust all of you. And, because I think it was in the same, the same day when I asked for a job description and Dan kind of [00:24:00] laughed and said, there’s, you ain’t going to get one., and he often says, Do you work for a traditional company, Mark?
[00:24:05] Mark Wright: And I said, no, do you work for a traditional boss? No, stop acting like you do that. And so, yeah, we, the only job description he gave me was be Mark and be awesome. And I think that speaks to the level of trust that he has in us to understand what needs to get done. And then he trusts us to get it done.
[00:24:24] Mark Wright: And. You know, it, it will be apparent if, if we’re not doing what we’re supposed to. But I think, I think part of the whole struggle with companies and employers is that they just don’t trust that people will do what they’re supposed to do if they can’t see them. but like you were saying, Tamar, I mean, I do some of my best work from eight to 11 PM.
[00:24:46] Mark Wright: I might play the drums for a half hour in the middle of the day, but then I’m For hours, several hours, sometimes at night, because that’s when my brain works better. And that flexibility just wouldn’t, wouldn’t be there if I [00:25:00] had a traditional job and had to show up in person. And it would be really hard to, you know, haul the drums all the way into Seattle and set them up and for my drum break. Yeah, that was a joke. I should do a little rim shot over there, but I’m bumping, but, um,
[00:25:13] Elan Olsen: Well, I was going to say, based on what you said, that employers don’t trust people to do what they’re going to do. That feels a lot like projection, and I think it’s kind of a critical piece of why work is broken, right? Is, I don’t think employees trust employers to do what they say they’re going to do.
[00:25:30] Elan Olsen: And so when you don’t have this covenant between your work and your life, where, Oh, I care about this. I’m going to work hard. We care about you. We’re going to take care of you. That’s not a covenant that most businesses have with their employees. So I think the trust goes both ways. So I, I, I’d be curious to know where you think that lands and how do both employees and employers meet in the middle?
[00:25:56] Elan Olsen: Cause you know, as Gen Z enters the workforce. I think they do [00:26:00] have some expectations that may or may not be placed in the right, in the right sequence.
[00:26:07] Mark Wright: Yeah, I totally get that, Elan. I think trust is a two way street, and I think there is a lot of mistrust when it comes to employees just not trusting their employers., and what I think is interesting, though, is that, and we’ve interviewed, we’re coming up on 100 episodes in August for the BEATS WORKING podcast.
[00:26:27] Mark Wright: Every expert we’ve interviewed when it comes to leadership has said that you have to be trusted by your employees. There has to be a level of trust because if they don’t trust you, they’re not going to work hard for you. And I think what I’ve experienced is that when those leaders truly care, like the way that Dan has structured this company absolutely speaks to me that says he cares about us and our lives.
[00:26:58] Mark Wright: My experience has [00:27:00] been when employers. Show, show they care. I will work so much harder for that employer than I would for an employer that clearly doesn’t give a crap about me or my life or my family. And I’ve worked for both kinds. And what I think, you know, I hope that business leaders, Get to that point of truly loving their employees and caring about them.
[00:27:25] Mark Wright: Because when they get to that point, that employee is going to work so much harder and care so much more about the company’s interests, not just seeing how much can I get from the employer? what else?
[00:27:37] Libby Sundgren: Well, I think one thing that also goes Elang with the trust factor is having a mutual respect for the other person’s time., because I do feel like when I was in other roles at other companies, I, know, when you feel like your company is wasting [00:28:00] your time, either by Having you, you know, whether it’s, consciously or subconsciously, making you go into the office when you know you can do the work at home or making you do, I don’t know, some kind of corporate burden role.
[00:28:17] Libby Sundgren: But I feel like when, What I really appreciate about our environment is that there is a very explicit respect. For people’s time. And so, knowing that you, there is that mutual respect and understanding is a motivating, element to, to working from home.
[00:28:42] Libby Sundgren: I want to do a really good job in the time I’m here because, because I, know that I work in a place where I’m respected and valued and I feel the same way about my, my colleagues, I think having that real [00:29:00] emphasis on, meeting cadences and really trying to focus your efforts.
[00:29:04] Libby Sundgren: What, through top 6 and through, holding, not emailing somebody 15 times a day, but trying to focus your communications and do it, smaller segments or holding things until you meet at a certain time and really being intentional about the way you’re using the time in your company.
[00:29:22] Libby Sundgren: Things like that are really important, and really, have a huge benefit to that worker employer relationship and I think really make, a working from home environment much more productive. you know, when you have those kinds of, efforts that are being made, company-wide and, and you feel like the time you are giving is, is reciprocated back.
[00:29:45] Mark Wright: And I think the other thing that came from our conversation with Jason Loretz and, and the other contributors is that companies really need to be, intentional when it comes to building culture and building relationships, because relationships don’t magically [00:30:00] grow without the gift of time and we just can’t get to know each other unless we spend time with each other.
[00:30:07] Mark Wright: I think what’s been really fun is this summer, we’ve had this series of secret sidekick suppers. And, uh, I’ve loved the first one that we went to. I absolutely came home and felt like that was one of the most meaningful evenings of my life. And that’s not an overstatement., we had a woman who was an expert on death and dying come in and we had table talk and we got to know each other really, really well.
[00:30:33] Mark Wright: And I feel like those Kinds of things are so important for companies. At least where did the idea for these secret sidekick suppers come from? And they’re kind of, they’re kind of a big deal because they’re secret and you have to kind of be invited to attend.
[00:30:48] Alysse Bryson: Yeah, I mean, everybody loves to be in on a secret, right? Totally. Well, Dan is really passionate about building world class community and networking [00:31:00] and, uh, of like minded people getting together and, and talking about a lot of important life topics, right? And having intentionality around, around your purpose of your time here on earth, to sound a little like, and, uh, Libby and I used to, when we were at the magazine, we would do, We did a dinner series called secret suppers where every year there was a best restaurants issue and they would put the restaurant of the year on the cover and we would do this event where people could buy tickets and come to the event of the year, but they didn’t know where they were going when they bought the ticket.
[00:31:36] Alysse Bryson:, they would get an email the day of that said, this is where you’re going., and it was wildly. popular. We did it multiple years. And so, uh, earlier this year or maybe late last year when we were talking about starting this dinner series, I was like, oh, we should make it a secret because that worked so well before and then it, it didn’t.
[00:31:54] Alysse Bryson: Sounds cool with the Sidekick brand that we have., and so that’s kind of, kind of where it [00:32:00] took off from there. And, it’s really fun. It’s an intimate experience, uh, and it’s a curated conversation, which I think is really cool. And, you know, you can definitely come with someone in your life, whether that’s your partner or your bestie or your coworker or your cousin.
[00:32:15] Alysse Bryson:, but you can also, you get to meet other people that you don’t know. And that’s That’s the part I love the most is, it’s a guided conversation over amazing food in a cool venue, right? And so it’s like, we have figured out date night, you know? And date night is when you’re being in a relationship with somebody else and hopefully learning, growing and being inspired and entertained, right?
[00:32:39] Alysse Bryson: And, and I loved the Death Over Dinner series. I think it, that is such a powerful conversation to have. BEATS WORKING. And, uh, the next one we’re working on right now is now we’re going to talk about living because we’ve already talked about dying., and there’s a lot to talk about when we’re talking about living.
[00:32:55] Alysse Bryson: And so, it’s really cool. I, if you’re listening to this and you want to get on the [00:33:00] list, you can definitely, uh, check out the show notes and there will be a link to get on the list and we will email you the next time that one’s happening.
[00:33:08] Mark Wright: And building community until I met Dan, I really didn’t understand the value of community to a business., if you’re comfortable explaining that at least, I mean, relationships are really all that a business needs. Has, right? I mean, isn’t, isn’t that the reason that building community is so important?
[00:33:27] Alysse Bryson: Well, I think so. I mean, that’s why nonprofits are successful, right? It’s a community of people that are passionate about a cause. and I have joked for a long time, like, my network is my net worth, right? And there’s, it’s so much easier if you know people. To get things done. It’s just so much easier. And at the end of the day, people like working in community.
[00:33:51] Alysse Bryson: They like being in a village. I mean, that’s how we started, right? If you go back to 4, 000 years ago, it was people living in small villages [00:34:00] all working together collaborative., and I think, I think we’re gonna see that come back. And I think one of the other things I was thinking about as we’re talking about all this, Mark, is, we’re sitting here talking about the PRIVILEGE.
[00:34:13] Alysse Bryson: That we have of working hybrid and the privilege that we have of working from home that does not happen for people in the service industry. And we can’t not acknowledge that the service industry has been greatly impacted by the amount of people working from home, in cities across the country.
[00:34:29] Alysse Bryson: Right? and so I think that, uh, for people that are working at home, like your responsibility. Is still to go out and frequent the local restaurants and the local mom and pop shops and the makers, right?, and to spend time supporting your community Uh, and if you if in new ways since your habits and your routines have changed And sometimes I like to joke that shopping from amazon is buying local because we’re [00:35:00] here in seattle And so, that’s my loophole.
[00:35:03] Mark Wright: There’s definitely been fallout. A friend of mine has a shoeshine shop in downtown Seattle and he just started to GoFundMe and is trying to save his business. It’s, it looks like it’s, I don’t know that it’s going to succeed, but, it’s just another example of so much, so many fewer people are going downtown that he, you know, that used to stop in for a shoeshine that he just can’t make it.
[00:35:24] Mark Wright: Anymore. And that’s
[00:35:25] Alysse Bryson: Well, and how, how often are you wearing shoes that need to be shined anymore, Mark? I mean, it’s also that, right? Seattle’s become more and more and more casual. I don’t, I think in other cities, they are still very much dressing up. But yeah, I was in downtown Seattle for a big chunk of yesterday, and people are not that dressed up anymore.
[00:35:46] Alysse Bryson: Professionally. I didn’t, I didn’t see it. Maybe because you’re all at home.
[00:35:49] Mark Wright: Yeah, that’s interesting. as we start to wrap up, what else could we explore with this topic?
[00:35:55] Alysse Bryson: Okay, power round. You can only have three things in [00:36:00] your home office. Now I’m, now obviously you have a computer, you have a camera, you have wi fi.
[00:36:07] Alysse Bryson: Okay, you have the bare basics to work from home. What else is in your home office that you cannot live without? Because I know you don’t need staplers anymore. So what else is that? What’s, what’s on your desk that you can’t live without?
[00:36:21] Mark Wright: Tomorrow.
[00:36:22] Tamar Medford: I would say my microphone. My water bottle. And my second monitor.
[00:36:28] Mark Wright: Very good. Elon, what about you?
[00:36:31] Elan Olsen: Plants, Headphones, and Artwork.
[00:36:38] Mark Wright: I thought you were going to say lizards.
[00:36:41] Elan Olsen: He’s a piece of art all by himself.
[00:36:45] Mark Wright: For people who can’t see behind you, there’s a lizard cage. I love it. Or a terrarium or whatever you call it thing. I love it. Libby, what about you? What do you have to have in your office, home office?
[00:36:57] Libby Sundgren: I second the second [00:37:00] monitor, diet Coke and Windows. Got a lot of windows in this room and it makes me feel like I’m not. up in a office all day, if I’m at least looking outside.
[00:37:14] Mark Wright:, at least I’m going to just narrow it to two in I, I can’t live without coffee. I’ve, I’ve come to that realization. So, uh, my name’s Mark and I’m addicted to coffee. Hi.
[00:37:26] Libby Sundgren: coffee addict. Mwa
[00:37:31] Mark Wright: Thank you, Elan.
[00:37:33] Libby Sundgren: ha ha ha
[00:37:34] Alysse Bryson: played, Elan, well played.
[00:37:35] Mark Wright: Nice. The other thing that I cannot live without, and I know this is a little strange, I’ve got two drum sets in my home office, and, When what I’ll do is I’ll do a stretch of work and then I’ll play drums for five or ten minutes. And for me It is absolutely like meditating like literally like meditating so that it clears my mind It I get a boost of [00:38:00] endorphins It feels good and my brain is kind of reset and if I didn’t have a home office There’s no way I could play the drums as a break throughout my day I could not live without, without drums. I’d go crazy. How about you, Alysse? What’s your, what’s your must haves?
[00:38:16] Alysse Bryson: My must haves? Well, I, well I do love a second monitor but the monitor that I have is ginormous and it serves as multiple monitors, but I just wanna note that if I go somewhere with my laptop, I do travel with a travel second monitor because I do like a lot of screens, but that’s not gonna, I’m not gonna use my three on that because to me that’s like a necessity.
[00:38:39] Alysse Bryson:, I would say my dogs because I like that they come and they’re around my feet or I pet them. I mean sometimes they’re annoying, but mostly they’re pretty cute and I like that I can just see them, touch them, watch them snooze., so that’s a pretty great thing., I have a footstool that I like to put my feet up [00:39:00] on.
[00:39:00] Alysse Bryson:, so I feel like I can kick back and relax. I think that’s, that’s pretty great., and I’m a big napper. Everybody knows I love to sleep. I love to sleep. And so I love that I can go and take a 15 to an hour minute nap by just walking down the hall and getting into my bed. Like that is just like, I, I mean, I would do it every day if I could.
[00:39:25] Alysse Bryson: My schedule doesn’t usually allow for that, but I will nap frequently, frequently napper.
[00:39:30] Mark Wright: What time of day?
[00:39:31] Alysse Bryson: Oh, well, I’m a night owl, so my naps are usually between 3 and 5.
[00:39:35] Mark Wright: Yeah, right in your trough. I love it. I love it. Well, this has been a great conversation with all of you. And I think, the big takeaway for me, and we’ll go around, just, I’d love just to kind of summary thought from, from each of you. But I think what I’ve learned most about hybrid or remote work is that, uh, it comes with responsibility and to make it work requires, intentionality.[00:40:00]
[00:40:00] Mark Wright: And good communication and trust from an employer and trust from the employee. I think it just doesn’t work unless there’s a two way street that we base this on. So I’m super grateful that we can do this., I do need to. Make more of an effort to do things with all of you, I think outside work, so that we can continue to grow as friends and to build those relationships.
[00:40:26] Mark Wright: So I’m going to be thinking of things, not like extreme sports things, but maybe like bowling or putt, putt golf or stuff like that. So be looking for that in your inbox soon. Okay. Takeaways tomorrow. What’s your takeaway from our discussion?
[00:40:41] Tamar Medford: I think that I’m just incredibly privileged to be able to work for a company that allows hybrid work, because, you know, working in a manufacturing facility in my previous lifetime, You know, there’s people that didn’t have that option. Like Alysse said, there’s business owners [00:41:00] that don’t have that option.
[00:41:01] Tamar Medford: And so, just understanding that I do, I am very privileged that I’ve been able to, you know, be in this kind of environment and work with people. these kind of amazing people and just to have a little bit more compassion to people who don’t have that privilege and, you know, make sure that, you know, if you know someone like that, give them some extra love because I think they definitely need it.
[00:41:23] Tamar Medford: And because there’s a lot of people that they have to work on site. So, yeah.
[00:41:27], Elan. What’s your takeaway?
[00:41:29] Elan Olsen: Pretty similar to Tamar is the great privilege it is to be able to work from home, get time back, enjoy the home that you live in, enjoy the hobbies that you like or the decompression things that you like that you can’t always take to an office with you., and then I’m reminded of, you know, your, your Spider Man quote there, great responsibility.
[00:41:51] Elan Olsen: I think that’ll be important and we’ll see how that shakes out as Gen Z and Gen Alpha enter the workforce with, without, you know, living in [00:42:00] a world where it wasn’t possible to have a remote job. So I’m so excited to see how well they do.
[00:42:08] Mark Wright: awesome. Alysse. What’s your takeaway?
[00:42:11] Alysse Bryson: I just like that I don’t have to wear pants. Oh, just kidding. I’m actually in a skirt dress today, that’s why I’m literally not wearing pants., no, I, I love that I can work from anywhere. Like,, I’ve got a lot of friends all over the country that I can say, Hey, I’m going to go stay at my friend Sonny’s house in Florida for a week and I can work from there.
[00:42:31] Alysse Bryson:, and then that’s cool because of the time difference that puts all of us on the same schedule because then I’m at your hours and not my hours. So, I love that. I love that I could go work from my parents house for a week., I love that I can, yeah, so I can work from anywhere, not just from my house.
[00:42:47] Alysse Bryson: BEATS WORKING.
[00:42:47] Mark Wright: And I think what’s ultimately going to, you know, decide where all of this ends up, I really believe that companies will figure out that remote work actually is more efficient. More productive and more cost [00:43:00] effective. And I think businesses pay attention to cost more than anything else. I mean, they, they won’t stay in business if it isn’t cost effective.
[00:43:08] Mark Wright: And I think it’ll get to that point eventually, but it’s going to take some time, some discussion, some trust, and some mistakes, I think some mistakes are going to be part of it. But I think ultimately industries where remote work can be done, I think they’re going to, they’re going to move there. We’ve been moving there for years anyway.
[00:43:27] Mark Wright: The pandemic just accelerated things. What I think is interesting is that, you know, three of us came from broadcasting and broadcasting is the epitome of a business tied to a place. Like I couldn’t have dinner at home at night because I had to be near the anchor desk in Seattle. And so to have the freedom and flexibility of, of this job is just absolutely a breath of fresh air to be able to have dinner with my wife in the evening.
[00:43:54] Mark Wright: And so, that’s a perk that is just paying amazing dividends. So, well, team, I [00:44:00] appreciate your time today. Sidekick Sessions talking about the future of hybrid work. Thanks everybody. We’ll talk soon.
[00:44:07] Elan Olsen: Thanks Mark.