Publisherâs Weekly might not be the first magazine youâd expect a design and creative services resource to refer to, but The Design Image Groupâs office library has an eclectic array of reading material. Of course, thereâs no one around to browse new issues these days, the staff working remotely.
So, product developer, writer and editor Liz Scheierâs âWork, Interruptedâ from PWâs 11.30.20 issue may only get one reader at our office, and thatâd be me. Scheierâs detailed survey is subtitled âNew books suggest that the large-scale shift to remote work is only the beginning of a much-needed overhaul of American office lifeâ. Gemma Daleâs Flexible Working, David Burkusâ Leading From Anywhere and Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmelâs The Long Distance Teammate are among the forthcoming titles Scheier looks at, each probing the pandemic driven reshaping of the entire workplace landscape. As she notes, ââŚthe pandemic has been a catalyst for organizations to make the policy shifts their employees have championed for yearsâ.
Iâll bet we all agree â organizations large and small, management and staff alike â that a big reassessment of the way we work lies ahead. But speaking as the person who still has to sign the monthly office rent check on a space thatâs barely been occupied since late March, Iâll admit that Iâm championing the much-missed in-person morning staff meetings âround the conference table...returning some time in Q4-2021, perhaps. If weâre lucky.
When The DIG went remote, we quickly concluded that things might work more efficiently if someone still held down the fort, and it seemed like the honorable thing for the boss to volunteer. There are still packages to send and receive, occasional non-robocalls, some older archives that are too cumbersome to relocate which need to be searched. And itâs not as if the staff doesnât pop in (masked and distanced, obviously) to address various tasks, quite possibly more frequently than any of us foresaw. Â Who knows? Perhaps this weird 2020-2021 will all be no more than another footnote in the long list of a small businessâ nearly forty years worth of quirky memories and anecdotes.
But for all of the forthcoming business books forecasting how Corporate America will reassess precisely how (and notably where) work gets done, Scheierâs article also includes soon-to-appear titles like Fawn Germerâs Coming Back! â How To Win The Job You Want When You Lost The Job You Need. Itâs one thing to tease one another about pajama pants peeking into a Zoom screen or the uneasy voyeurism of peering into coworkersâ private spaces. Itâs another altogether to consider the devastation created by months of relentless job losses.
Itâs not only hospitality, travel, dining and entertainment industry workers whoâve suddenly found themselves on reduced hours, furloughed or unemployed. Countless industries and marketplaces (Amazon distribution centers aside, I suppose) have been impacted. Companies are understandably cautious about aggressive new agendas. Programs that may have been the bread and butter basis of 2020 and beyond may still be on hold. Itâs getting hard to keep up with friendsâ, family membersâ, business associatesâ and even some clientsâ âRe-orgsâ and the consequences of those right-sizing realignments. And donât think for a moment that our own operation has been immune.
Myself, I plan to select a business book from Liz Scheierâs Publisherâs Weekly âWork, Interruptedâ article for Q1-2021 reading (ordered for pickup at my local indie bookseller, mind you). Iâll choose one covering the evolving workplace dynamics of the 2020âs, but then search on my own for another that offers tips on sustaining ânon-essentialâ business activity that is, for us, mighty essential business indeed. That seems like the best way to ensure that The DIGâs work isnât interrupted. Or, at least, not too much.
https://www.publishersweekly.com