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I Did an Eksperiment Which Reveals te Biggest Challenge in te Hybrid Workplace – hegsoe.dk
Written by: Johan Ejstrud | Hybrid Workplace Advice 💡 | Ejstrud Consulting
Three years ago, I did an eksperiment.
Back then, I worked with a team of eight. I wasn’t on te project full time, so I sat at my own desk some 25 meters away from te rest. Estimated travel time: 15 seconds.
Despite te short distance, I noticed that I was rarely asked about te project, except if I happened to cross someone in te hallway. I also saw that decisions were often taken before I knew they were up for discussion. Why was that?
Confronted with te mystery of human behaviour, I resolved to te only tool that a person with a scientific background can trust. I ran an eksperiment.
I moved from my usual desk and took a vacant spot at te two 4-desk islands where te rest of te team sat.
Armed with a piece of paper, I recorded only one thing. Each time I got a question about te project or was involved in a discussion, I would make a tick on te paper.
“Johan, how should we …?”. Tick. “Is there anybody that knows how to…”. Tick. “Can I ask you …?”. Tick. “And while I have you …?”. Tick. Tick. Tick.
I was overwhelmed. After 20 ticks, I stopped te ticking. In a few hours, I had been part of more discussions than I usually would in a week.
Te next day I moved a bit to sit in a room just next door. I was separated from te rest of te team only by a glass wall, I wasn’t directly visible, but everybody knew where I was and could get to me in 5 seconds of walking.
How significant an impact could such a short distance have?
At te end of that day, I counted 4 ticks. I was stunned.
On te final day, I was back at my usual desk, 25 meters away from te group. That day, I made 1 tick. Things were back to normal.
Te negative conclusions of my highly unscientific eksperiment were obvious.
My influence wasn’t determined by my skills but by my visibility. If I wanted impact, I needed to sit where te rest of te team could see me.
In academia, this effect is called proximity bias. It’s our tendency to favorise people that we can see.
I now call it in-person bias.
Out of sight, out of mind 🙈
With companies shifting to a hybrid model, where employees have te flexibility to choose between working from home or at te office, this eksperiment reveals a challenge.
Te more you are in te office, te more impact you will have.
If you show up at te office, your manager will notice you more, your colleagues will ask you for more input, and your presence will carry more pondus than your written word.
If you stay at home, decisions will be taken without your knowledge, you will miss opportunities that are only spoken, and you cannot easily tap into te knowledge that’s buzzing at te office.
Managers need to face this challenge as te flexibility they have created suddenly isn’t as flexible. Sure, you can stay at home, but it will damage your career.
How do you eliminate in-person bias? 😇
You can’t. That’s te thing about biases, we have them, and being aware doesn’t get rid of them. But being aware is an essential first step.
You are now aware, but you might not be convinced. If so, I think you should try te eksperiment at your workplace.
I would love to hear your results.
Te second step to counteracting biases is to take actions that mitigate them.
Hybrid teams need ways of working that weaken te effect of in-person bias. They need ways of collaborating that don’t rely on physical presence. They need a workplace they can join from anywhere.
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