Trust — when in sight.

Recently I had a long and good conversation with an old colleague of mine. We were talking about this whole work from home thing. Or WFH. How remote working has been around for a long time but is now finally more accepted. That remote work and WFH is becoming to be more normal than abnormal. And hopefully will stay so.

Managers, that up until recently have not been in favor of people working from home, have been forced to accept that concept, and for a good number of weeks now. They are learning to trust their people better. They are seeing that people are actually working when working remotely (some have doubted that and thought people used that as an excuse to just slack). They are seeing that meetings can be held, and feedback given via Zoom, Teams, etc.

We celebrated that the time seems to be gone when managers only trusted their people when they could see them. Or at least their jackets on their chairs.

When managers had this obsessive need for people to show up at the office between 8 and 9 every morning. When lunch breaks could not be longer than 30 minutes. When people were measured more on how long they sit by their desks than the value they create with their work. No matter how many hours it took.

We also talked about workcations and if that would be the next thing managers would learn to accept and appreciate. Where employees can travel and work at the same time. And come recharged and full of energy back to the workplace after having worked in a different environment for a few days. Well, at least we can dream, and hope that will be the next new normal.

Vacations are a totally different thing, and will still be oh so necessary. Where we take time to totally unplug and don´t do any work at all.

I felt quite optimistic and fueled after this conversation. And then went on about doing my job.

Later that day I had a conversation with another colleague of mine. That colleague could not wait for everything to go back to “ normal”, after the pandemic and so many people working from home. The normal where people will show up between 8 and 9 every morning. And stay by their computer until 4 or 5 in the afternoon. So that they can be easily reached during normal workday hours.

I could feel my tank draining as that conversation went on.

No matter how much I tried to sneak in sentences about the importance of evolving and trying new ideas. To maybe be a little disruptive. To adapt to changing times. The firmer my colleague became. And told me repeatedly that some of the ideas I was mentioning had been tried over the years and they did not work. So no need to try them again. The colleague also told me that I just didn´t understand the importance of people keeping on doing things the way they had always been done. It had worked, so no need to change it.

I don´t know, now that I look back at this conversation, if it made me more sad or frustrated. But at least I know we are waiting for different normal…

I don´t have to see my people or be able to reach them every minute of the day, to trust them. And to believe that they are doing their best to be their best, in work and life.

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Herdis Pala is an experienced HR Leader, Executive Coach, and Speaker.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.