Steve Jobs once said creativity comes from spontaneous meetings and random in-person discussions. These serendipitous encounters are commonplace in an office. The problem is, the office isn’t as commonplace as it once was. 

Many people are still working from home, and many businesses have embraced remote working long-term. 

A logical question to ask is, how can you nurture creativity when some (or all) of your employees work remotely? 

But perhaps the more appropriate question to ask is, are serendipitous encounters truly the source of creativity at all?

Democratizing creativity through brainwriting

Remote work results in fewer in-person meetings. That might be a good thing for creativity. 

Several issues crop up when a whole team sits together in a room. Early ideas tend to dominate, leading the discussion down whatever path was initially broached.

Brainstorming out loud often benefits whoever is loudest and most visible. That’s at the expense of quieter, more thoughtful types, who prefer to sit back and remain out of the spotlight. 

A remote working dynamic requires an alternative strategy in the form of brainwriting. 

Brainwriting sees teams brainstorming ideas through the written word rather than spoken conversations. There is more time for concepts to percolate, with all suggestions given equal weight regardless of when they are posted or who came up with them. 

Loud voices no longer dominate.

Everyone contributes, all ideas have equal weight, nobody is outshone, and the shy and introverted find their voices. This can completely change the team dynamic in a far-reaching and impactful way.

Creativity becomes democratized. More ideas are contributed and considered. 

Diversity and Demand

Remote working allows for serendipitous encounters of an entirely different kind.  Opening up recruitment to candidates outside your immediate geographical areas allows for greater diversity, new perspectives, and the ability to attract top talent who would otherwise have been unable to join the team.

This can significantly uplevel idea generation and fulfillment in a team. You have access to a different level of thinking than would not have been available otherwise.

You get perspectives you never considered, points of views you’d be unable to replicate on your own. 

Your team becomes a melting pot of minds. 

Finding inspiration in new surroundings

No matter how creative and dynamic your office environment is, it’s still a single indoor location that doesn’t (generally) change. Remote work allows a ‘work from wherever’ mentality that opens employees up to a world of inspiration. 

Fresh air and beautiful views. The comfort of home. The adrenaline rush of a quick walk or a lunchtime yoga class. The bustle of a favorite coffee house. All these locations lend themselves to a less rigid and claustrophobic approach to work and a chance at serendipitous encounters of an entirely different nature. 

Office inspiration is limited to four walls and whatever you’ve filled them with.

The scope for ideas, innovation, and inspiration in the outside world is limitless.

With greater creativity comes greater productivity 

Studies show that creative leaders outperform their peers across key financial metrics. It’s no surprise, then, that we increasingly see profitability and growth hinge far more on creativity than productivity (1).

Creative thought and innovation drive growth (2). The free flow of ideas is what drives companies to greater success. 

Little is more liberating to the mind than letting your team physically roam freely. In other words, serendipitous encounters may inspire creativity. But they don’t have a monopoly over it. 

People are spending exceedingly more time out of the office and working from home. This flexible landscape has allowed employees to thrive in many ways, but it has also created unprecedented challenges.

In addition to longer workdays with less structure, being consistently out of the office prevents remote workers from accessing many of the sought-after perks a traditional workplace provides.

To ensure that all team members feel valued and supported regardless of where they work, we all must creatively reimagine the typical benefits of being in an office to accommodate hybrid and fully remote employees.

Health and wellness

The top-ranked, most desirable employee benefit is health insurance. For many smaller companies with remote employees spread over potentially expansive geographic regions, offering and managing traditional health insurance policies can be next to impossible. Yet providing support for health and wellness is a major force in competitive hiring and employee retention. Some hybrid companies have found inventive ways to show a commitment to the well-being of their employees, including:

1. Contributing stipends for subsidized insurance plans
2. Offering online classes or gym memberships
3. Gifting workout gear, and
4. Purchasing health tracking apps

Whatever the approach, finding ways to extend a health-focused hand to those out of the office is crucial for effective remote team management.

Workstations

An effective office space equips employees with the technical tools they need to excel in their work.

Many companies offer workstation upgrades for their hybrid employees to compensate for the comfort and utility an office provides. Last year, Shopify and Twitter each gave many of their remote employees $1000 to outfit their home workstations.

This type of allocation for practical tools can take many forms. While some companies give stipends and allowances, others send gifts like ergonomic office chairs and espresso makers.

Home Services

The advantages of an office don’t just extend to its furnishings. In many productive workplaces, cleaning crews and professional maintenance teams come in to keep things tidy and functional so that employees can focus on the task at hand. For remote workers putting in long hours at home, doing daily chores around the house, and conducting their own technical upkeep can be arduous.

While providing services like meal delivery and home cleaning is beneficial, childcare is one of the most demanding challenges for remote employees.

As of last year, only 30% of employers have a system of assisting working parents with childcare. Recognizing and supporting the needs of remote employees with children could be the next evolution of ensuring hybrid employees have the out-of-office space they need to stay focused.

Streaming

Taking breaks throughout the workday is a scientifically-backed way of improving concentration and productivity.

Of course, in the office, stepping away from your desk and heading to a break area is a simple way to recenter and increase performance. When working from home, this can become a more complicated endeavor both physically and psychologically.

The digital equivalent to a break room can be achieved by streaming services. If you can’t grab a donut or coffee on the way back to your desk, at least you can tune into a music streaming service or a motivational podcast as you turn on your laptop. A simple respite from work routines and time on a computer can make all the difference for someone working remotely.

Be creative

There are many ways for workplace leaders to keep their hybrid employees feeling supported from wherever they may clock in. While there are many direct equivalents from office to home, the most important thing you can do is be creative.

Innovation comes from problem-solving for your team’s unique needs. Ultimately, the best remote office perks are the ones that make each employee feel valued in their own way.

The rising tide of remote workers shows no sign of ebbing. Employees have had a taste of the flexibility of working remotely. Many are unwilling to return to the previous status quo. 

Some companies have answered this by allowing employees to work remotely a few days a week. Others are giving their teams free rein to ‘work from wherever’ permanently. More still are finding self-determination to be the best option and leave it to individuals to decide when and where they want to work.

Companies embracing remote work policies are seeing huge benefits from their newfound flexibility. Hybrid teams are emerging, along with more laid-back atmospheres that see unassigned seating and hot-desking as an integrated part of the new normal.

The flipside of this is the danger of creating a ‘class’ system within a company. Remote employees may feel excluded or at a disadvantage due to their physical absence. 

Democratizing the hybrid experience

There are inherent problems created by having a team of remote workers coupled with a team of onsite workers. The greatest of these is that very perception: that they are two separate entities. Variances in how and where people work can unintentionally form divisions between your remote workers and your in-house staff. 

You hold a meeting in the office, and remote workers aren’t in attendance. You speak one-to-one with staff working remotely, while the team in the office only gets face-time with you during meetings where everyone is present.

Look at how your team functions on a practical level. Create new processes and implement new systems that allow all staff to work in the same way, regardless of their location. 

Two examples: 

1. Ensure everyone is present for meetings, either in person or on a monitor via video conference
2. Use collaborative tools like Google Docs and Notion that allow everyone to work on the same live documents in real-time

Hot desking is another effective way to create an inclusive workplace for employees who come to work some of the time. 

Hot desking creates a flexible office space. Depending on the needs of your employees on any given day, you may have more workstations, scrum spaces, or conference rooms. Employees have a say in what their experience at the workplace is like, and you make the most of your space based on actual needs. 

Revisiting your company culture

Creating a level playing field for your employees must begin with your company culture. 

Employees who feel engaged and inspired are 125% more productive. 55% of businesses cite strong engagement as a critical factor in retaining and recruiting top talent. 

And yet, there is a fundamental misunderstanding about what, exactly, constitutes a company’s culture. Gone are the days when a foosball table in the breakroom and letting people dress down on Fridays were the foundations of your culture. The workplace can influence culture — but culture isn’t defined by the artifacts found within four walls. 

The rise of awareness and passion for climate change and social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter demonstrates the need for businesses to align themselves with the social conscience.

The emergence of a flexible workforce allows you to examine your company’s culture from a new perspective. How reliant are you on office artifacts to define who you are? These gorgeous cafeterias and stunning conference rooms may wow onsite employees. But they have little impact on your remote workers.

Gorgeous cafeterias and stunning conference rooms may wow onsite employees. But they have little impact on your remote workers.

Modern companies must determine how best to serve the needs of both the business and its employees — no matter where those employees work. 

Achieving this isn’t always easy. Be discerning. Throw away elements of your company culture that no longer serve you or this new workforce. Invite your employees to contribute their ideas. 

If you’re like most modern companies, you have three types of employees: fully in-office, fully remote, and those who come to the office some of the time. Each type of employee has unique perspectives on what makes them excited, proud, and inspired to work on your team. 

The I in team

You’ve heard there is no ‘I’ in team. And yet, in a post-COVID world, there very much is a sense of individual isolation. Remote workers often feel as I’s on a team. And those working on site have to adjust to collaborating with colleagues through Zoom calls and Slack.

There’s no value in forcing your team to operate with a pre-COVID team dynamic. Rather, there needs to be an acknowledgment of the ‘I’ (and likely multiple ‘Is’) on your team. The new hybrid workforce compels you to form a new collective that is both physical and virtual.