[2022-08-04] Give it a week
I used to work with a woman who arranged office moves for our branch. The day after each move, one or more employees would inevitably go to my colleague with concerns about the new setup. She would say "give it a week, then come see me if you're still having issues." The reluctant movers rarely returned. They adapted, or discovered that the new setup had its advantages.
I shared this story today with a former colleague who commented on the challenges of bringing staff back to the office after more than two years of working from home. I predicted that, with time (though it might take more than a week), employees would adapt to going back to their workplaces—whether full time or part time—just as they had adapted to working from home.
Whether changing offices in the same building, moving to a new building, or adapting to a whole new work environment, transitions are hard. Employees are faced with a change that they didn't choose, that they have little or no control over, and that may have repercussions beyond their work lives into their personal lives.
Back in about 2010, my work sector moved from the centre of Ottawa to the west end of the city. It was a temporary move—one that was originally planned for a year but stretched to 16 months. As with any change, some employees embraced it while others resented it, depending, largely, on whether the move increased or decreased their commute time. My colleague told many people to "give it a week," wise counsel that didn't close the door to a discussion of problems, just deferred it long enough that most concerns went away on their own.
Perhaps "give it a week" is too simple for the transition that many employees will be facing over the coming weeks and months. But the idea of giving something a shot and allowing time to get used to the new reality is worth a try, no matter what the change.
