In doing this, many people speak about “leaving work behind” or “separating work and home life.”
This is important, in some sense. You need to leave the stress of work out of your home as much as you can, in some professions even more than others. At the same time, you do need a place to safely decompress work, and that’s often at home.
Leaving home and going to work at the office. Leaving the office and going back home. It’s very normal and common. Until it isn’t. And it turns out it’s not necessarily a bad change.
There is a danger in taking the separation of work and home too far. If people are putting on a mask at work and not bringing any part of their true self, then they will almost never truly become part of the team.
We’ve talked about this before. Turning a group into a team takes more than just giving them an activity together though. Each person in the group needs to be willing. More importantly, they need to feel safe enough to bring themselves to work.
I’ve been guilty of this in the past. My time in the Navy is a great example. Who I was on base during those four years was very different than who I was on leave. The team on the submarine never got to know me, even though we’d spend weeks stuck together underwater with little to no interaction outside of the boat. Sure, pieces would sneak through from time to time, but I never delivered my true self.
In another job, I not only allowed myself into the workplace, but I was also friends with some of my coworkers outside the office. Invariably, every time I’ve been on this type of team it has been a better experience, at work and home.
While not coming into the office has its own set of problems, it also does something amazing. It brings the office to everybody’s homes. When working from home, people generally feel safer, and more willing to let themselves, their true selves, into work. This naturally increases trust in the group, either bringing them closer to being a team or closer to becoming a high-performing team.
If your teams are struggling to work together I can help. Whether it’s a struggle due to working remotely, or a long-standing effort to move from group to high-performing team that has stalled get in touch and we’ll set up a 30-60 minute discussion on your needs and how I may, or may not, be able to meet them.
In the USA it’s pretty normal. Five days a week we get up, go to work, and then come home. The other two we don’t – usually. (Hopefully?)
