The Pandemic has created a series of ongoing changes that make it harder to know where to start in the workplace environment. Several topics have dominated the business headlines: The Great Resignation, hybrid working environments, staying at home, or working only at the office. However, these are just the beginning of issues facing workers and management in the redefinition of work. In addition, we have seen shifts in our understanding of essential and front-line workers. These workers are also dealing with additional stresses through a redefinition of the meaning of safety at work. Added to this mix of change is advanced artificial intelligence (AI). Before the Pandemic, this work revolution started arriving in self-driving vehicles. The trend towards automation is increasing with increasing worker shortages. While it may seem like a relief on the surface, having children heading back to school also holds challenges for working parents. Other workplace obstacles that have shaped how we make meaning in our lives appear in the loss of life, whether due to the virus or other issues. Discussing these changes with OD professionals and supporters was the purpose of the Town Hall Forum held by the Bay Area OD Network on Thursday evening, September 23, 2021.
When change dominates the environment, new approaches and skills are needed. One discussion outcome was developing a new strategy during the Bay Area OD Network’s Town Hall Forum on the Re-Negotiation of Work meeting held on September 23. A set of 12 themes represented the Network’s collective conversation concerning organizational discussion needs for this current work environment. The themes fell into four areas: 1) Practical Issues for Returning; 2) Recreating Work Meaning; 3) State of Being at the Workplace, and 4) Social Justice at Work. These themes have been developed into a model representing areas for starting conversations to check in with how individuals and teams about their individual states while engaging the changes in the background.
Special thanks to #JerryTalley, #EstieBriggs, and #JohnTuranin for contributions to this blog.
