当奥米克隆威胁退后并授权到期时，面对面的聚会再次暂时但经常盛开。当我们通过大流行的两周年纪念日时，雇主正式欢迎更多的人回到办公室。我们中的一些人感到兴奋（与同事共进午餐！第一次亲自见到我的老板！安静的通勤时间！）。我们当中有些人感到恐惧（我现在不会看到我的孩子那么多。我会安全吗？我不会那么富有成效。）。
无论我们的情绪状态如何，我们都在两年前的不同之处。从小型换衣服（也许更紧密）到更基本的衣服（我们希望我们的工作有更多的目标), we are arriving back to the office as changed beings.
One of the most crucial, and difficult, changes has been to our ways of communicating and collaborating with each other. Constrained to a computer screen and the functionality of videoconferencing, we’ve adopted unnatural ways of working with each other. We forced our brains to do extra cognitive work and make a million subconscious adjustments over hours of conference calls. And, as brains will do when actions are repeated enough times, we have formed habits. For better or for worse, remote connecting and collaborating has become a default state for many. So, will we all just naturally bounce back to some pre-pandemic way of working when we return to the office? Not exactly.
我们去过哪里
The length of the pandemic has given研究人员plenty of time to pinpoint exactlywhat is going on in our brainswhen we connect over screens. In short, it’s been a two-year exercise of teaching ourselves to do unnatural things.
通过视频会议平台与他人建立联系需要更重型的认知处理。例如，我们的brains work harder为了容纳毫秒的声音延迟，哦，这是如此巧妙地扭曲了我们的看法。人类采用信息并通过眼睛评估危险的最基本途径是扭曲的。我们不能再注视着另一个人的实际眼睛，以缩小可能的威胁或建立相互信任。
At the same time, we have multiple eyes looking at us, sometimes at unnatural sizes or in uncomfortably close proximity, which our body can perceive as a threat, releasing the stress hormone cortisol. Despite our most creative efforts to mimic in-person interactions (e.g., virtual coffee meetups), we have missed the small, non-verbal cues our body and brain use to navigate situations—the subtle eye roll, the quiet sigh, the tapping pen on the table—and relied instead on a Zoom thumbs-up or heart emoji.
也许最重要的是，我们缺乏一个无脚本和出乎意料的时刻，就像在电梯上撞上朋友或新想法的自发白人登机的惊喜。在按下红色“休假”按钮之后，没有挥之不去的后续问题或哀叹最喜欢的运动队的糟糕地位。在普通时期，这些时刻创造了一个shared reality在我们和我们的同事之间。在潜在项目的研究中，我们发现与同事共享现实可以预测工作意义，组织承诺和工作满意度。
我们要去哪里
作为办公室重新开放，有很多期待的东西，也必须记住，这是全新的地形。这将有助于使即将到来的章节提高面对面的合作和沟通最有效。
For individuals: Manage your inner space
经过两年的主要方式运行，我们的大脑将我们的一些行为放在自动驾驶模式下，以保护其他活动的认知资源。不管您是否知道，不学习这些行为并打开其他行为将在精神上是苛刻的。以下是一些不可避免的面对和蓬勃发展的策略：
- Don’t overschedule yourself.我n the early days and weeks of being back in an office setting, allow yourself some open, non-task time and space to readjust and casually reconnect with colleagues.
- 设定连接的意图。On a good day, our minds wander工作日的37％，一旦我们离开私人，安静的家庭办公室并在工作中的开放空间平面图中降落，那将会变得更糟。分心的思想不是协作和联系的理想选择。如果您觉得很难集中精力，请尝试在一天开始或会议上设置意图，以重新定位您的注意力。每天问问自己：我今天将与谁建立更大的联系？
- 再睡个好觉。Extra commuting, catch-up socializing, and mental overload will be additionally tiring. A good night’s sleep will be key to improving your interactions and reducing your risk of burnout. (您可以在这里找到更多提示。)
对于领导者：创建培养联系和协作的空间
在我们的研究中，社会隔离是在家中工作的人的首要挑战。因此，我们这些已经回到办公室的人感到失望，因为我们观察到周围的空桌子或与坐在我们旁边的人们在一起度过一天。对于大多数公司来说，制定混合/重返工作安排一直是一项巨大的工作，仍然有机会做得更好。以下是一些其他考虑因素：
- 讲话！One of the most basic things that leaders can do is have a return-to-office plan and keep talking about it. In our research, when there is clarity about the strategy and plan, employees have 36% more pleasant feelings about being back in the office. Of those employees who felt most clear, 75% have managers who discuss the return-to-office plans once a month or more (versus only 48% for those who aren’t clear).
- 不要在一周中的几天之前组织时间表。按关键时刻组织。When crafting your team’s schedules, plan in-the-office days for when your team will most benefit from a shared reality.For example, during the beginning phases of a project when creative thinking is most critical or when major changes are being announced and in-person cues and body language will aid the communication process.
- 连接的设计空间。思科认识到环境很重要，并且正在以不同的互动方式构建其办公室设置。因此，他们正在确定全球的思科地点，这将成为合作中心。这些中心将欢迎团队，无论是在办公室还是远程工作，都可以通过其专有协作技术更好地联系。这也伴随着促进创新和支持员工身体的计划，
financial, social, and emotional wellbeing. - Make time for just being.After two years of video calls, we’ve all been deprived of the normal releases of dopamine and oxytocin—the feel-good hormones that we seek and need as social beings. Do your team a favor and let it be okay to have agenda-free social interactions. Perhaps this can be the time when “home” is brought into the office a bit with an update on the dog who joined virtual meetings or the home renovation that everyone heard or witnessed.
我t feels like a hopeful time ahead. But let’s not rush towards that without pausing to recognize what our brains, bodies, and teams will need during this time of change. We have shown ourselves to be miraculously resilient and adaptable. We can do this too.