Excuse Me

by Rosanne J Thomas

  Companies understand workspaces have a great impact on employee experience and help them attract and keep key talent. They also know that the more comfortably and efficiently they allow for work-life integration, the happier, less stressed, and more productive their employees will be.

  Employees need to respect their employers’ intent in providing on-site amenities. One client said that literally nothing is safe from being taken home at her company, from food, drinks, and supplies to toilet paper! Such unprofessional work behaviors do not go unnoticed by employers and coworkers.

  Many now no longer choose to fight traffic to get to the office. Using electronic devices and team collaboration tools such as Slack, they do their jobs wherever they are. Those who want or need space for meetings, a sense of community, or a roof over their heads on a temporary or occasional basis, can use shared office space as an option. Organizations such as WeWork provide monthly rental of desks and private offices. Business is booming. Founded in 2010, this organization now boasts 109 locations in 30 cities around the world. Freelancers, entrepreneurs, and knowledge workers are huge fans of this shared office concept. Businesses also see the benefit, especially for their remote workers.

  However your workplace is configured, your brand is always on display. This means being aware of your surroundings and of those you might inadvertently disturb with audible conversations, noise-emitting electronic devices, or wafting food aromas. It also means paying attention to your attire, grooming, and everyday behaviors. By attending to such seemingly small considerations as holding doors open, keeping common areas clean, and being professionally cordial, you will be viewed as an all-star office mate. There could also be ancillary benefits, as that person next to you might be the source of your next great idea or a potential client!

  Gen Zs

  It has been a particularly exhausting week, and Dan, manager of recruiting, is weary. A lengthy email had just come to him from the vice president of Human Resources, ending with “I’ll need your report and recommendations next week. We need to understand these Gen Zs and what we have to put in place to attract them.”

  In his 37-year career in commercial insurance sales, Dan has worked with three generations in addition to his fellow baby boomers. He has listened to countless stories about the early days from the firm’s 76-year-old founder, has commiserated with the boomers about whether they will ever be able to afford to retire, has reassured his 40-something colleagues that they are not being overlooked in favor of tech-savvy millennials, and has tried to keep up with the millennials’ constant need for positive feedback.

  Dan is simply worn out by the disparate, never-ending expectations of an employee base that spans more than 50 years. And now his boss tells him he has to start planning a strategy for ways to attract an entirely new generation—Gen Z.

  Dan knows this is going to be a huge challenge, compounded by the firm’s 20th century corporate culture: Old school values, hierarchical management, and pay-your-dues-and-you’ll-get-promoted thinking prevail as surely as they did when the company was founded. Sure, they have installed the obligatory foosball tables and now offer unlimited snacks to keep millennials quiet, but these are merely stopgap measures. The company has an enormous amount of catching up to do, especially if it wants to compete for the most talented members of this new generation. Maybe the expectations of Gen Zs will provide the push the company needs to finally get into the 21st century.

  Dan writes his report, addressing the challenges the firm will face in appealing to this huge new cohort as well as the expensive initiatives they will need to offer. He just hopes they don’t shoot the messenger.

  No discussion of the future of work would be complete without an eyes-wide-open look at the next generation knocking at the door. Most agree Gen Z is the first generation of true digital natives. The oldest of them are just a year or two away from joining the workforce. Born approximately between 1994 and 2014, Gen Z could be some 60 million strong and is poised to redefine the workplace once again.

  Who are the Gen Zs? According to Anne Kingston’s article “Get Ready for Generation Z” in Maclean’s, “They are smarter than Boomers, and way more ambitious than Millennials,” and are “educated, industrious, collaborative, and eager to build a better planet.”10

  “Meet Generation Z: Forget Everything You Learned About Millennials,” a presentation by the New York advertising agency Sparks & Honey, says members of Gen Z are mature, future thinking, humble, realistic, and entrepreneurial. They embody a collective social consciousness and value education and working for success. They like live-stream media such as Twitch and Ustream and communicate via FaceTime and Skype. Gen Zs also have challenges that may be related to the extent of their electronic device use: short attention spans, a lack of situational awareness, imprecise communication, and obesity.11

  Gen Zs, known also as centennials, iGeneration, and Homeland Generation, are thought to be far more private and pragmatic than their millennial brethren. The children of Gen Xers, they have seen the problems brought on by over-sharing on social media and prefer sites like SnapChat and Whisper to the permanency of Facebook posts. Having lived through global conflict and the Great Recession, Gen Zs are also considered cautious, serious, and prone to worry.

  Constant Connectivity

  Hannah’s mom is worried about her 20-year-old daughter. She wonders what ever happened to the energetic, happy young girl she once was, the girl who would come bounding through the front door after school eager to share her day’s activities or her newest crush, with her cheeks ablaze after soccer practice. Hannah’s mom remembers a healthy, athletic young woman brimming with vitality, cheer, and confidence.

  Over the past year, everything has changed. Her daughter now has bags under her eyes, has gained weight, and is so pale. Hannah’s college grades are falling. And she never seems to leave the house! The few times her mother actually sees her, Hannah seems depressed.

  Hannah’s mom gets up her courage again and knocks on her daughter’s door. She knows her concerns will not be well received, but she believes her daughter’s life is at stake and she just can’t ignore it. “I’m fine, mom. Just leave me alone!” yells Hannah from behind the closed door.

  But something is clearly wrong, and Hannah’s mom is convinced it has to do with the amount of time she spends on her devices. She’s heard stories about the online bullying, the shaming, the trolling, and she knows that in some cases, these activities have had tragic consequences. If she could just talk to her daughter, face-to-face, she could find out what’s going on and maybe help.

  So she knocks. And knocks. And knocks. After five minutes, the door opens. Hannah emerges from her room, seemingly resigned to a conversation and maybe just a tiny bit relieved. “Okay, let’s talk,” she says.

  Constant connectivity brings real risks to users’ work, privacy, relationships, and health. Most of us know this intuitively, but few of us actually believe that these risks apply to us. In the article “Health Benefits of Unplugging and Going Screen-Free This July 4,” The Huffington Post reports “overengagement with social media can cause anxiety [and] feelings of low self-esteem.”12 A ceaseless barrage of photos of people engaged in awesome activities with their awesome friends can elicit feelings of jealousy, insecurity, and loneliness in those not similarly engaged. Increased social media activity often comes at the expense of decreased physical activity with weight gain and sleep affected as a result. A study from the website Science Daily found that the blue light of a tablet lowers melatonin, the sleep hormone.13

  Online activity also harms relationships, interpersonal communication skills, and mental health, according to Sophie Breene, author of “Why Everyone Should Unplug More Often.” She says research indicates that “social media is the millennials’ ‘drug of choice’ and to many in this cohort, a self-described addiction.”14 Other potential problems include depression and poor posture, as well as sight, circulation, digestive, and skin issues. It can also cause wri
st, neck, and other muscle strain.

  The Unplugged Life

  Did you know there is a National Day of Unplugging? Starting on the first Friday each March, participants pledge to unplug from technology for 24 hours. An outgrowth of the Sabbath Manifesto, the National Day of Unplugging is meant to encourage one day a week to “unwind, unplug, relax, reflect, get outdoors, and connect with loved ones.”15 Its website, nationaldayofunplugging. com, offers resources and news about events, as well as some of the many great reasons people choose to unplug.

  In 2010, the World UNPLUGGED project polled students from around the world who gave up social media for 24 hours. They reported feelings of freedom, liberation, peace, and solitude, and they had more time to engage in creative thinking, be with family and friends, talk, listen, read, enjoy the sunshine, laugh, eat, drink, chat, wander, jog, walk through the park, listen to the birds, and engage in hobbies.16

  Digital Detox

  John can’t believe it. His company is coming up to the end of a very challenging quarter with sales goals unmet and now wants the management team to go on a “digital detox” retreat—whatever that is. “Why now?” John thinks. He is irritated. Every quarter, it takes a Herculean effort on his part to push his team to the finish line. Constant email status updates, texts of encouragement and warnings in equal measure, and links to the fabulous resort they will be going to if they come in first are just some of the ways he keeps them motivated.

  Sure, he may rely a bit heavily on technology to keep his staff on task. And yeah, it’s been a while since he’s “seen” his teenaged kids other than on social media or “spoken” with his wife during the day other than by text. But that is just the way things are these days. This is not the time for him to be without his devices, especially for an entire weekend!

  But knowing he needs to get on board if he wants to stay employed, John makes the trip to the beautiful campsite a few hours away. Dutifully complying with the rules, he turns his devices and watch over for safekeeping until the end of the retreat. At first, John literally does not know what to do with his hands. He reflexively checks his pockets for the phone not there and looks at his naked wrist where his watch used to be. “This is going to be hard,” he thinks.

  In the common area, John takes a look at the activity board. A nature walk, hmm, that might be a good way to take the edge off. Archery? He hasn’t done that since summer camp. Then there’s yoga—that’s something he’s always wanted to try. John spies a colleague and is ready to commiserate about their forced getaway, when his relaxed-looking colleague tells him excitedly that he’s getting ready for the hike. Does John want to come? After the day’s activities, there is an evening around the campfire with an outdoor buffet, a corny but fun sing-along, and talks about their plans for tomorrow.

  Maybe this isn’t so bad, John thinks. He has forgotten about reaching for his phone and the quarterly sales figures. Looking forward to the next day’s activities, he’d love to try his hand at printmaking and is not going to miss the scavenger hunt and tug-of-war. And he has a surprise for his colleagues at tomorrow night’s talent show: It’s high time they knew what a great singer he is! After an exhausting day in the fresh air, John is ready for sleep. He drifts off thinking about all the fun that awaits him. But he also knows, when tomorrow comes, if he chooses, he can do nothing at all but breathe in and out and look at the gorgeous scenery surrounding him. Nice!

  THE DIGITAL DETOX

  Declare your independence. You are not your technology. It is a tool. You have control.

  Start slow. Designate a time each day to power down. Fill that time with other activities: yoga in the morning, meditation in the afternoon, dinner with family or friends in the evening, reading a novel before bed. Work up to a tech-free half or full day.

  Reduce temptations. Engage in activities that make the technology virtually impossible like skiing, cycling, swimming, cooking, painting, sculpting, dancing, knitting, board games, tennis, or playing the tuba. Work on a crossword or jigsaw puzzle.

  Cut down on social media checks. Limit yourself to once or twice a day. Discover how little you miss it. Use an away message to let others know you are fine, just momentarily unreachable. Emergency messages will get through.

  Ban technology from the bedroom and dinner table. Make it off-limits in conversations.

  Take advantage of apps. Apps such as Offtime and Checky are designed to help you observe and limit your tech use.

  Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook said, “Every year, I take on a personal challenge to learn new things and grow outside my work at Facebook.” In 2016, he announced he would run 365 miles at the pace of one mile a day. In 2015, he vowed to read one book every two weeks. “I’ve found reading books very intellectually fulfilling. Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today.”17

  The Eternal Truths

  “Boy, is he going to get an earful from me!” yells Matt, the owner/manager of a busy city copy shop, to his long-time employee, Leslie, and to anyone else within earshot. On any given day, he would have requests for a dozen rush jobs in addition to his regular customers’ orders. Matt is actually glad for the rush jobs because when people are in a hurry, they don’t mind paying more to go to the head of the line. “It’s great for business—and business is great,” he always says.

  But there is one problem: the local delivery company he uses for these jobs. Matt has given them an enormous amount of business over the years, mostly because they are the only game in town. But WeDeliver’s employee turnover rate is high—really high—especially among its bicycle couriers. This means inexperienced workers and lost, late, missed, and damaged deliveries. On countless occasions, Matt has had to refund the money of many an angry customer and provide complimentary services just to keep them coming back.

  Matt has complained dozens of times, and the owner of WeDeliver always promises to do better. But within a week, it is back to the same problems, accompanied by calls from unhappy customers. Matt has threatened to take his business elsewhere, but that’s an empty threat—there is no other place to take his business. In fact, Matt is pretty convinced the delivery company owner doesn’t even take his complaints seriously anymore.

  So for the second time this week, the fifth time this month, and who knows how many times this year, Matt calls the owner with his usual frustrations and dissatisfactions. Afterwards, Leslie, his quiet, loyal, long-time employee, asks Matt if she can offer a suggestion. Gently reminding him of how many years this has been a problem, and the toll it has taken on them all, she asks, “Why don’t we hire our own delivery person?”

  Merriam-Webster defines eternal truths as “valid for all time.” The phrase is usually associated with the words of major historical and cultural figures whose teachings have stood the test of time, such as Socrates, Aristotle, and René Descartes. Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Greatness, then, is not an act but a habit.” The principles in George Washington’s Rules of Civility: The 110 Precepts That Guided Our First President in War and Peace also provides examples of such timeless counsel. Inspired by the writings of Jesuit tutors, our first president copied out these rules and carried them with him as a guide for his life and work.

  The precepts include the following:

  “Wear not your clothes foul, ript or dusty, but see they are brush’d once every day at least, and take heed that you approach not to any uncleanliness.”18

  Translation: Attire and grooming matter greatly!

  Do eternal truths exist in today’s professional arena? By observing behaviors over a long period of time that result in similar outcomes, perhaps we can lay claim to our own set of personal truths. The year 2017 marks 22 years for me in the field of etiquette and protocol. Over these years, I have had the privilege of discussing the importance of respect and civility in the workplace with thousands of undergraduate and graduate students, newly hired employees, and tenured professionals. All have inspired me
and shaped my perspective on life and work.

  MY ETERNAL TRUTHS

  Past behavior is a strong indicator of future behavior. Individuals and organizations can change, but it takes a concerted, consistent effort and a long time to change others’ minds about them.

  Insincerity can be spotted a mile away. A successful relationship, whether personal or professional, is not possible without both perceived and genuine respect.

  Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt. Adopt the belief that everyone is trying his or her best and you could probably eliminate 95 percent of workplace strife.

  You will not always be liked. Do your best and hope for the best in return.

  Everyone wants to be heard. You needn’t agree, just listen.

  Things change. As time marches on, there is no percentage in not also changing.

  Everyone makes mistakes. Stress, fear, and fatigue can bring out the worst in anyone. Cut others slack, and while you are at it, cut yourself some slack, too.

  “I’m sorry” are two of the most powerful and underused words in business. Acknowledge mistakes and you strengthen relationships.

  Reputations are fragile. Take great care with your own and with others’ reputations.

  Time is fleeting. Think about how you spend your days. You will never get them back.