Office Love Affairs & Helicopter Bosses
5 in 5 - Brave & Heart HeartBeat #135 ❤️
This week we’re asking, do you have a new love affair with your office? (Our recent LinkedIn poll says not really). Is your boss a helicopter boss? And, what are you looking for in the social network of your future?
Not to mention more nightmarish stories from Musk’s Twitter, and a little guide to Gen Z slang to help you navigate life with your new colleagues.
Plus, if you’re looking to buy electronics for youngsters this Christmas check out this week’s bonus content.
Let’s get into it.
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#1 - What New Love Affair With The Office?
We recently shared a slightly scathing poll on LinkedIn about the man who wrote this Guardian article “Our new love affair with the office is a step towards a better philosophy of work” in which he, a man well over the age of Gen Z, told us about Gen Z’s new love of the office, the adventure of the commute, etc etc, and how they’re quitting remote jobs to get back into the office.
It did get our back up a little bit, probably due to the recent history of powerful men over 40 (Elon Musk etc, banking companies, etc.) touting THEIR way of work, the 24/7 office grind, as THE only way, and relying for evidence on a sample size of… one.
He does, however, make some interesting points once we’ve stopped bristling at the title, the nostalgic “things were better before” tone and how ridiculous it is to have a love affair with an office.
For example, young people straight out of university and how isolating it can be to have your first corporate experience remotely, with no after work socialising built-in and no-one to show you the ropes in person. Or the fact that humans are social creatures, and for some working from home equals being stuck alone all day.
Our poll came out at a strong 80/20 in favour of “he’s not speaking on our behalf” (with an interesting male bias to the office and female to remote, to dive into deeper another time). For us, that 80/20 ratio really stands out as a way to approach how we work nowadays. 80% of working the best way that works for you, whether that be at home or otherwise, and 20% of the classic office experience, i.e. working in person with others.
Not necessarily the London commute with an excursion out for lunch and a tube ride reading the paper, as this man seems to be focusing on – because for some that was never and will never be their reality anyway.
And finally, to all of us, beware of the bubble effect on this one. People treating the remote vs. office debate as the defining debate of our time are forgetting that we aren’t all marketing department and project managers.
Not everyone can work from home. Some people had to brave the roads this morning to go to work and they will do the same tomorrow and that’s the end of the debate for them.
#2 - Helicopter Managers
Ever heard of a helicopter parent? So called because they hover over their kids, watching their every move. Well, the rise of remote working, has seen with it the rise of helicopter managers – breathing down your neck every minute, but now via chat.
Micromanagement obviously isn’t a new phenomenon, there have always been bosses who keep close tabs on their staff. But with the increase in workers performing their roles remotely some managers have become pretty insecure about the power they have to manage these employees.
Power being the operative word here, because the move of checking in every time a slack or teams status becomes inactive is part of a power struggle between managers who don’t know how to manage remotely and fear that they’re not being respected.
As leadership coach Arielle Sedan notes “We all want control, and for managers that aren’t able to see their employees, that can feel like an even more acute need”
While this kind of micromanaging isn’t always malicious, and is certainly part of the adjustment period of remote working, it’s already having a negative impact on staff. Remote workers who feel micromanaged by their boss are less engaged, less motivated and less capable than ever before.
It’s not easy to find a balance, and with stories of “coasting” and “quiet quitting” hitting the news managers might be feeling extra pressure to drive results, but constant zooms and incessant messaging might be driving workers away, rather than driving productivity.
#3 - Twitter “Police Force” Resign, Then Get Fired
Twitter is becoming more and more like the Wild West of the internet, as they disband the the volunteer group which advised it on self-harm, child abuse and hate speech following the resignation of three members who cited concerns with Musk’s leadership as their reason leaving.
One member stated at the time of her resignation: “Tragically, the research shows that Twitter is going in the opposite direction, and I can no longer find a reason to stay in tacit support of what Twitter has become”.
Twitter has since disbanded the volunteer group in question, which advised it on self-harm, child abuse and hate speech.
The Trust and Safety Council was made up of about 100 independent groups such as Samaritans and the UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC), and while they had been due a meeting with Twitter on Monday, they were disbanded by email instead.
Many of the charities are very concerned about Musk’s new approach to twitter, and sel proclaimed radical free speech. For example Glitch UK, a charity hoping to end online abuse, with a particular focus on black women and marginalised people. They argue that by letting “free speech” reign, black women and marginalised people especially are actually being silenced on Twitter for fear of the abuse they’ll receive in return, without punishment by Twitter.
Thanks again Musk.
#4 - Is Social Media Dying?
If you listen to the universal expert on social media, i.e. apparently whoever is youngest user at the time of the question being posed – posting on Instagram is for losers, twitter is dead, and everyone only uses TikTok anyway. You’ll notice Facebook doesn’t even get a mention.
Now that’s where Gen Z are at – what about the rest of us?
Well, unless talking to the camera about your niche interest, creating video memes or filming yourself dancing is your thing, TikTok is never going to feel natural, or be of much use to you as a social network.
BeReal is the next big thing in social media, but as it involves posting one photo a day at a set time and focuses on “being real” i.e. you have to take the photo when you get the notification, there’s not much scrolling potential in the way of a Facebook or Instagram replacement.
Instagram seems to be all in the stories at the minute, making it a bit of a classic insta plus classic snapchat mash-up, and Facebook is still used pretty regularly albeit now for kind of boring things, like scheduling events and remembering birthdays.
Apparently the niche old corners of the internet are regaining popularity, such as Tumblr and Reddit, but those are more attractive to dedicated users searching for a community than your classic social network scroller checking out what their friends are up to.
While getting back to the real core of social networks, i.e. creating your own network online, is pretty cool, the author of this Vice article makes a good point – where can we post our silly little pictures now? Flickr?
#5 - Gen Z Are Confusing Everyone With Slang In The Office
One of the refreshing and/or confusing and/or inappropriate things about Gen Z is that they don’t necessarily have a filter – they’re less constricted by rules and code of conduct, more casual, and therefore more likely to have a pretty similar personality in and out of the office.
This can be pretty confusing for older co-workers, used to the rules of corporate conduct and with a different attitude to what is and isn’t appropriate in the workplace.
The HR view is predictably diplomatice, stating that Gen Z need to take into consideration their surroundings when spouting indiscriminate nonsense they heard online (okay that last bit came from us) but that their elderly colleagues (all other generations from millennials to boomers) could benefit from being more adaptable and relatable to their younger co-workers.
Hey, the children are our future, right?
In the meantime, check out this list for a run-down on some of the recent slang, mostly popularised on TikTok, including “ick” and for some reason the word “no” but pronounced in an Australian accent…
Brave & Heart over and out.
Bonus
Safe Gift Guide
At the top of every kids Christmas list this year - a VR headset, right? Or something to do with roblox or a drone or whatever else it is that’s topping Santa’s factory charts this year.
Well, before you click “add to cart” take a look at this Gift Guide from the eSafety Commissioner, an online resource with everything you need to know about staying safe and keeping others safe online.
To find out more on how you can retain talent without being a helicopter manager, or how we can help you with digital solutions to your business challenges, check out our case studies.