In the middle of a chat about all things organizational, a client once told me that the Company’s CEO had said to him and other senior colleagues, “We’ve got to stop the corridor conversations.” Leaving aside the naivety of the CEO’s comment, in the pre-COVID days when the possibility of in-person exchanges was ever-present, his remark also betrayed a basic lack of understanding of how organization works. In particular, it failed to recognise the fundamental role that informal conversations such as these play in determining the overall nature and quality of people’s individual and collective perspectives, practices and performance. Ironically, of course, informal conversations would have been just as much a part of the CEO’s own practice as they were of everyone else's.
In this way, through the interweaving of the formal and informal aspects of organizational life, people are perpetually creating the future together; enabled and constrained, in everything they do, by the actions, inactions and interactions of everybody else. The hidden, messy and informal encounters, which happen in between the formal and structured ‘set-piece’ events, are critical to what emerges overall. It’s in the coming together of people in these unstructured ways that the complex social realities of human life are played out to the full; adding richness to organization in ways that would otherwise not be possible. It’s also important to recognize that most of these informal interactions take place without those who are formally in charge in a particular context being physically present.
Where, then, does this leave us in the post-pandemic world, in which home-based and hybrid working have been taken up extensively?
However naive and ill-informed the CEO’s view was, his wish to “stop the corridor conversations” might well be closer to being realized than was conceivable at the time. On the one hand, for those whose job and personal circumstances can accommodate it, working from home can provide some attractive benefits. On the other, in the context of organizational dynamics, ‘inbetweenness’ matters. Hybrid working offers the possibility of accommodating these contrasting conditions to some degree, of course; provided that the coming together of people in person allows for the unstructured, ad hoc encounters that are fundamental to the complex social reality of meaning-ful human interaction. Thought also needs to be given to the growing intermediacy of technology, which risks compromising the intimacy, spontaneity and confidentiality, etc. of any informal exchanges that are engaged-in remotely.
Fundamentally, organization is an ongoing process of conversation between living, breathing and wholly interdependent human beings. Keeping this conversation going, in all of its richness, depth and diversity, is pivotal. So, given that technology-enabled working from home is likely to become or remain a central part of the lives of many, a key question is how the essential in-betweenness of ‘corridor conversations’ might be recognized, valued and realized in this new environment. If we get it wrong, we might find ourselves lamenting our experience of the nature of organization that emerges and (with apologies to Pete Seeger*) asking “Where have all the corridors gone?” ...
Where have all the corridors gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the corridors gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the corridors gone?
Connected people every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the people gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the people gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the people gone?
In on-screen boxes every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the boxes gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the boxes gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the boxes gone?
Replaced by chatbots every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
*Composer and performer of “Where have all the flowers gone?”
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