Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Working Conversations podcast, where we talk all things leadership, business, communication, and trends in organizational life. I'm your host, Dr. Janel Anderson.

Today on the podcast, we're talking about something that many of us experience without even realizing it. Hive mentality. Now, this isn't about conformity. Instead, it's more about the subtle benefits of a shared environment. Especially when you're in a workspace where you can overhear and pick up on conversations, ideas and insights going on all around you.

Just like bees in a hive, the efforts are coordinated and all the bees are aware of what's going on around them. Now, with so many people working from home, we're seeing a new contrast. Those who experience this hive effect when they're in the office and those who are acting as islands unto themselves, working from home and making decisions without context. We're going to explore why this matters, how it contributes to our sense of belonging and collective understanding, and what's at risk when employees work in isolation. So let's get into it.

Now, the motivation for this episode comes from two different places. One is a dear friend of mine who is a project manager at a large company and pretty much everybody is remote. I don't even know if there's an office for her to go into if she wanted to. And she and two of her other colleagues have implemented a 30 minute standup meeting each morning, every day, Monday through Friday, for 30 minutes, just so they can get on the same page and stay connected.

It's that hive mentality and they've had to intentionally construct it because they found that so many people who were involved in this project are acting as those islands unto themselves and are not coordinated. Now, she wishes that probably more people could join in that meeting every day and really just get on the same page. And it's been incredibly helpful for her and those other two colleagues to be having those meetings and creating that hive mentality on their own.

Now, another motivation for this episode comes from my work with managers and supervisors who are explaining to me how much longer it is taking to onboard a new employee and get them to a place where they are completely self sufficient and don't need constant oversight and help with their work. And they are lamenting the fact that with working from home or even on a hybrid schedule when they're not in the office, very often that these newer employees aren't getting the benefit of the overheard conversations and the maybe more complex type cases or situations than they've had initially. And so their learning curve is longer. And it's frustrating to the managers because they just don't have that learning through osmosis that we're so used to.

So those are the two motivations that really wanted that prompted me to want to take this topic on. Now, let's start by unpacking what I mean by hive mentality. Imagine you're in a busy office and there is the hum of conversations happening in the background. Team members discussing project challenges. Someone sharing feedback from a customer call or complaint. Two colleagues brainstorming an innovation, an innovative solution for something that they're working on. And a bunch of people huddled near the coffee machine waiting for the pot of coffee to finish brewing, having just casual chit chat about their families. Now, you're not part of all of those conversations, but you're absorbing little bits of each one.

You might overhear an insight into the company's strategy. You might learn a little bit about a recurring customer, or catch the inside scoop on somebody's personal life or a project that's happening in another department. Now, this, in essence, is the hive mentality. It's a constant exposure to what's going on across the organization, even if it's just in the periphery. And it helps us build that collective consciousness about the work, the organization, our customers, and even ourselves.

As an organization now, you're part of this larger living ecosystem, even when you're focused on your specific role and you're completely aware that this larger ecosystem ecosystem exists because it's all around you. Now, research tells us that exposure to indirect information, like overheard conversations can absolutely improve team alignment and increase empathy both for your colleagues and for your customers. When we're around each other more often, and when we're overhearing these little bits of conversations, we become more attuned to each other's needs and to the needs of the company and the clients we serve.

So we start operating from this place of shared understanding instead of an island all on our own. So this constant exposure is what I'm calling hive mentality. It's this shared awareness of what's going on around you that builds the collective understanding. You're in tune with your colleagues, your company, and the needs of the customer.

Now, research on workplace dynamics supports this phenomenon. For example, a study conducted by Robert Kraut and his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon found that informal communication, those unplanned casual exchanges, maybe by the elevator or the coffee machine, or the chance meeting in the hallway or the parking lot, those play a crucial role in building team cohesion and trust, especially when people are working in the same physical location. By absorbing these small bits of unstructured information, we develop more alignment, and we often feel more connected to the organization and our purpose in it.

Now, studies in organizational behavior show that teams with highly situational awareness perform better, have better morale, and make fewer redundant efforts.So that situational awareness is really knowing what's going on around you, knowing what's happening in the periphery, free. And this is all amplified when people can absorb these small, unstructured bits of information on a regular basis. In fact, Alex Pentland from MIT calls this effect honest signals. His research shows that teams who communicate openly and have the chance to absorb indirect information about each other's work are more effective, more engaged, and more attuned to each other's goals. And then they can help each other out better and support each other more. So what we're seeing isn't just background noise. These little moments of overhearing and observing shape our shared sense of what's happening in the organization. And they create a cohesive awareness that makes teams feel more in sync with one another and more effective.

But what happens when people are working from home, where they're not getting this exposure to casual conversation and spontaneous insights as often as they would in the office? Well, for remote employees, the work experience is much more contained. You know, structured meetings, direct emails, and focused one on ones where you're just not overhearing the background noise in the same way. Now, while this setup is excellent for deep work and it can be great for work life balance and reducing the commute and all the things we've talked about here on the podcast in the past, as we've talked about the work from home versus return to office. All this work from home, though, misses this layer of indirect knowledge that gets shared so easily and so naturally when we do share the same space. So instead, remote workers are left to fill in the gaps on their own, oftentimes coming to conclusions that are not accurate. So I think of it as the island effect. When you're remote, your assumptions are often informed by your specific view of the work and the organization. They're not informed by those chance encounters and those overheard conversations.

For instance, a remote employee might believe that a project is on track because the last meeting indicated that everybody said, oh, yeah, we're right where we should be. But in reality, someone else on the team is really silently struggling, and the issue wasn't being surfaced because that remote employee can't see the signs or hear the signals as easily and doesn't want people to know now when we're face to face, a lot of times there's a little bit more, maybe not in that meeting, that meeting still might go down the same way, but there's a little bit more nuance and shared understanding. And you might find through some other channels that that employee is struggling and that the project isn't as on track as you thought it was. Or maybe there's a looming change in the organization's direction and the remote team isn't picking up on the shift because those kinds of updates often happen in informal settings or through the buzz that's going through office way before it gets announced officially.

Now studies back this up too. There's research showing that employees who work fully remote are more likely to feel disconnected from the company's mission and they're less likely to understand the nuances of company culture and customers challenges. The Gallup organization found that employees working fully remote often feel less connected to the company's mission and again are less likely to catch on to those nuances. So when you're not physically present to pick up on those subtle cues, you might inadvertently work on outdated or limited assumptions and you might be just drawing conclusions that are flat out inaccurate.

Now this doesn't mean that work remote work is doomed. Far from it. We know it's here to stay, at least in some capacity. But it does mean that companies need to be more intentional about how they create and share information with remote and hybrid employees. I'll give you a quick example.

One of the teams that I was recently working with told me that some of the, and I'm quoting the client here, he, he referred to himself as old timers. So and he was of a baby boomer generation and he works remote as does most of his team. And he said that he and several other baby boomers who've worked together for decades in this organization will call in like 15 minutes early to a team's call and they'll just have small chit chat themselves to stay connected and share the scuttle button, those kinds of things, things that they wouldn't necessarily say in the meeting. So there are ways to make that happen, but it needs to be intentional. It needs to be designed into the remote and hybrid workplace. So when you have that shared physical space, the benefits go beyond information transfer. There's also a psychological lift knowing that you're part of something bigger than yourself and picking up on other people's enthusiasm and challenges and even their frustrations, well, it all reinforces your sense of connection and belonging and purpose in that organization.

For instance, when you overhear a customer service rep explain a tough issue to their manager, it's a reminder that everyone's working together to serve our customers. Even if your work does doesn't directly touch the customer, you get a small but consistent sense of the why behind the work or things that aren't working well in the organization. And that goes well beyond your own job description.

Now, according to that same 2022 report from Gallup that I referenced before, employees who feel a connection to a shared purpose are 40% more engaged at work and 56% more likely to stay with the company. Now, if you have a hand in recruiting at all, or if you have any open requis on your team, you know how important it is to get those filled. And the job market still is rather tight, so. And you know of course, who leaves the best and brightest, not the one who's not carrying their weight. So we really do want to focus on these retention efforts.

And being connected is definitely helpful for retention. Now additionally, this hive mentality helps break down silos. You become more aware of what other departments are doing, what other units are doing, and that is going to reduce the likelihood of redundant efforts and it might even help spark new ideas. So according to Ethan Bernstein, a researcher at Harvard who studies open workspaces, these overhearing moments help employees better understand their colleagues roles and challenges. And that helps to foster a sense of unity and it helps solve problems faster as well. So in an open environment or just even being in the same building, people are much more likely to collaborate in real time because they're constantly attuned to each other's needs and of course they're physically present. So when people are sharing the same physical space, they become more aware of the organization as a whole, rather than just their own department or their own job.

So the question is this, how can we foster some of this hive mentality for those who are working from home? One thing that companies can do is create intentional opportunities for informal communication.Like the example I was mentioning before of the baby boomers who log onto their teams meetings early just to be able to catch up and have some social chit chat might be a little bit of office gossip thrown in there too, but that's also part of Hive mentality.

Now it might also look like digital drop ins or open office hours where team members can just pop in and chat informally with each other. Virtual coffee breaks or cross department huddles can also be a great way to share knowledge casually. And I'll also go back to my friend, the project manager. She's creating her own, you know, little hive with a few other people who are also frustrated by not having the full picture. Sure. Now another idea is leveraging technology for asynchronous updates. Now this might include a shared channel on teams or Slack where people can just post what they're working on, upcoming projects, recent insights, or even, you know, things about their personal life if they're willing to share.

Some teams use video messages or brief audio notes to share updates. And that can help remote workers kind of overhear, if you will, those pieces of information in a format that feels a little bit more spontaneous. Now, for remote workers themselves, my advice is to seek out those opportunities, jump into the optional meetings, or join cross functional channels that keep you in the loop about company happenings. Now, I get that it is more information to process and everybody's already kind of pushed to the max. But even just skimming through other teams highlights or participating in a couple of non mandatory meetings can provide you with some valuable context. Even small bits of peripheral knowledge can make you feel more connected and can help you do your job better.

Now, as we think about the future of work, hybrid setups might offer some of that middle ground. When people can spend part of their week in the office, they get a chance to soak up that hive mentality. But they also enjoy the benefits of focused remote work. The balance is especially promising for team cohesion because it doesn't demand that everybody be in the office on the exact same day in order to stay informed.

Now, another great thing that some teams are doing that are either mostly remote or mostly hybrid is coming together on a quarterly basis for an in person day of engagement. Sometimes it's training, sometimes I'm coming in either to kick that off with a keynote or do some very targeted and specific training. So there's, you know, an element of team building, there's an element of education, and it also just brings people together for those informal conversations.

Now, for leaders, I will say the one takeaway is clear. Be mindful that creating this sense of shared experience for everyone, regardless of location, is part and parcel of your job. In fact, it might be one of the most important things that you do so creating rituals and practices that help people get on the same page and have the same unfiltered view of the organization so that they might be able to have that sense of connectedness that they would otherwise get from being in the same physical space.

So this, this could be regular kind of show and tell sessions where different departments share updates, or hosting casual team talks where people can discuss what's going on in their areas. We could also take a page from education. I know at a lot of schools the principal will have an open coffee time for parents to just come in and meet the principal and have some casual talk about what are some of the topics happening at school. So it doesn't have to be complex or overly planned, but the impact on morale and, and cohesion can be huge.

So there you have it, my friends, hive mentality. It is one of those intangible aspects of the office that often goes unnoticed, but it plays a huge role in helping people feel connected, informed, aligned, and just like on the same page. So for those who are working from home, you're going to have to be a little bit more intentional, maybe a lot more intentional, in order to get some of that overhearing of what's going on in the background. But the benefits of finding ways to tap into that so that you can be part of that hive mentality are absolutely worth the effort.

So thanks so much for tuning into this episode. I hope this gives you a fresh perspective on why those little moments of overhearing each other matter so much. And for those of you who go into the office once in a while, this absolutely means that you need to get up and away from your computer, walking around the office so that you can be overhearing some of that. If you're just sitting behind your laptop with the earbuds plugged in because you're on back to back meetings all day long, you're not going to get the great benefits of that hive mentality. So unplug those headphones, step away from the computer, go hang out by the coffee machine or the elevator or wherever it is that people hang out, or wherever you can casually overhear, obviously not intentionally overhearing conversations that are meant to be private, but just that you can overhear those conversations that are going to give you that additional context.

So remember, if you're a manager or a leader, thinking about ways to build these kinds of opportunities into the daily work and the weekly workflow is so important. And this could be a real game changer for your remote team or your hybrid team.

Now remember, my friends, the future of work is not only about technology. It's about the values we uphold, the communities we build, and the sustainable growth that we are all constantly striving for. We need to keep exploring, keep innovating, and keep envisioning the remarkable possibilities that lie ahead. As always, stay curious, stay informed and stay ahead of the curve.

And tune in next week for another insightful exploration of the trends shaping our professional world. Now, if you learned something on this podcast or you simply enjoy the content, please subscribe to my channel on YouTube, subscribe to the podcast on your podcast play platform of choice and follow me on social media. These are all excellent ways that cost you nothing out of pocket to support me and my work over on YouTube. Make sure you hit the subscribe button and knock that little bell so that you get notified every time there's a new episode out. You'll find me at youtube.com/JanelAndersonPhD.

All right, until next time my friends. Keep thriving and keep working towards the future that we all want. Stay connected, stay curious and I will catch you on the next episode.