Collective Effervescence and The Remote Worker
While most remote workers have indicated they have no desire to return to the office full time, the challenges they experience are indicative of working in an isolated environment. According to the 2021 State of Remote Working report from Owl Labs, two of the top three issues remote workers experience, loneliness and difficulties with communication and collaboration, involve lack of access to co-workers.
What they are missing is collective effervescence, or the sense of energy and harmony felt when people come together in a group around a shared purpose or activity. And it’s affecting their happiness and possibly productivity.
Research has found that people laugh five times as often when they’re with others as when they’re alone. Peak happiness lies mostly in collective activity, but for some remote workers, that time with like-minded individuals is hard to come by. And, since studies show happiness makes people more productive at work, their productivity could suffer. Which is why the rise of alternative workspaces is so important.
From the vice president who needs their remote sales team to think outside the box to the creative director struggling to develop the next big client campaign, managers and team leaders can use different and inventive meeting spots to engage and inspire their employees around a common goal. Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetings in person instead of online will allow their teams to harness the dynamic of collective effervescence, bringing more collaboration, creativity, and energy to their work.
Likewise, individual workers benefit from leaving their home office and working alongside others, even if they aren’t colleagues. The general camaraderie of co-working one or two days of the week can lead to the same feelings of collective effervescence that boost morale and keep productivity high.
Whether you are looking for a smaller meeting room or a larger venue with video displays and conferencing equipment, Haymaker has you covered with accommodations for 2 to 200 of your team members. Search now at haymakerspace.com.