I had a moment in a team meeting last week, that I’m sure a lot of you can relate to, where most of my colleagues were working remotely. A screen that is normally filled with professional photographs and muted mics were suddenly filled with colour, and life and what I saw as a deep need for human connection.
From the kid’s drawings on the wall, to the closed cupboard doors, to the muffled sounds of other people around the house, it was a beautiful insight into corporate life, as we haven’t really known it.
During the meeting, one of the Partners said that what he’d enjoyed most about the day was seeing the insides of so many people’s houses. As a team, we laughed it off and continued with our conversation.
What struck me later however, was that it wasn’t the people’s houses we are interested in, it is actually in their lives.
Not the parts we hear in polite conversation, the posts we see on social media or even through the endless hours of work we do together.
It’s in the parts we don’t show each other, and therefore don’t get to see. It’s the behind the scenes or director’s cut of life, the moments where we’ve taken off our masks, in our places of comfort and beside the people we live with.
We get to see these people, who we spend the most of our waking hours with, in an entirely new way. Their lives, who they’re caring for and what they’re worried about.
We get to see the incredible authenticity of life, sharing our fears and common concerns. And through it all building a solid foundation of connection. When we need it the most, in a way and at a scale that we have never done before.
Whilst it may seem as simple as a check in to see how someone is doing, enquiring about their day or keeping the conversation going for a bit longer, you will never know the impact this could have on their life.