There was a Time Before Emails…

In 1965, the first emails were sent from computers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Each user's message was added to a local file called ‘MAIL BOX’. The proposed uses of the proto-email system were for communication to notify users that files had been backed up.¹

Prior to emails, workers would spend their mornings going through a pile of handwritten memos and notes from co-workers and notes from phone messages left by an assistant. They would then respond by writing down (yes, handwriting!) lengthy replies, send them via mail, and then wait approximately seven days for a response. At that time, messages were official, formally written, and left no place for mistakes. The decision-making process was therefore much longer. When emails were first introduced in 1965 and then widely adopted in the workplace in the 1970s, the business world went through the first revolution. Suddenly, teams could communicate instantly and discuss group projects at a much faster pace, and the transmission of information between co-workers reached a new era. The use of rapid one-to-many delivery increased the amount of communication colleagues had, as compared to the era immediately preceding the widespread use of email. According to Statista, roughly 306.4 billion emails were estimated to have been sent and received each day in 2020, and this figure is expected to increase to over 376.4 billion daily mails by 2025.²

In the early 2000s, emails at work became omnipresent. With the adoption of the BlackBerry in 2003 and its portability, professionals were expected to check their work emails and answer messages immediately, even after working hours. The impact on teamwork was significant; colleagues had to learn how to respond to a never-ending influx of messages from their co-workers coming through their inbox, from morning until evening and even during the weekend. Employees also had to quickly adapt to new expectations and be available much more rapidly to respond to requests. With that came a new etiquette regarding work emails, ranging from when to send emails and what tone to use with a co-worker (the shift from formal to informal happened organically), to how to start an email, how to end an email, who to copy and who not to copy, etc.

The Second Workplace Revolution: Cloud Computing

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when cloud technologies were widely adopted in the workplace. In the 1990s, many personal computers were connected to cloud technologies as the tools became more affordable. Cloud technologies gained popularity in the late 1990s, when companies gained a better understanding of what it did for them. In simple terms, cloud computing refers to storing and accessing data and programs over the internet as opposed to a computer's hard drive. Common examples of cloud computing include Dropbox, Salesforce, and Webex. According to ZDNet, some of the top cloud providers in 2021 include AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.³ Saying that the adoption of cloud computing has changed the world of work is an understatement. Many workers started working from home thanks to the adoption of cloud computing; the use of the company's resources was now possible outside of the office. In addition to working remotely, workers could also communicate via new technologies, such as Skype, Gotomeeting, and Slack. This allowed for easy meetings with people in various locations, as well as group chats, channels for project discussions and updates, easy file sharing, and much more. The main shift that cloud computing brought to the workplace was the ‘always-on’ mindset it created.

The power was given to the workers with the adoption of cloud computing.

Covid-19 and the Third Workplace Revolution: Hybrid Work

For many people, the Covid-19 pandemic has widely transformed the way they work. Working from home became widely adopted overnight by the majority of knowledge workers globally in March 2020. One of my clients told me that he received an email from his CEO saying that every employee had to take all their belongings home, including their laptop, as they were going to work from home for an undefined period of time. That day would be the last day he saw his office for 18 months. It is hard to explain to anyone who has not experienced this what it was like. Many workers found themselves having to work from their home for the first time. Although the potential of working from home is concentrated among highly skilled knowledge workers among specific industries and roles, it remains a trend that is here to stay and is transforming most industries' workplaces. In many ways, the Covid-19 pandemic has removed the cultural and technological barriers that prevented hybrid work. Today's knowledge workers are living through a radical shift in professional life.

New technologies mean that even some traditional sectors, such as hospitality, are undergoing radical changes. Working from home will boost productivity by 4.8% as the post-Covid economy takes shape, according to a recent study of more than 30 000 US employees co-authored by José María Barrero of Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México and others.⁴ Much of that comes from a reduced commuting time. Many workplace experts are positively associating the shift to hybrid work with an increase in productivity. Different studies demonstrate the correlation between hybrid work and productivity, with different explanations; some attribute the increase in productivity to the increase in working time due to the limited time spent commuting, while some attribute it to happier staff who are more efficient. Many employees who became remote workers during the pandemic reported having more time for creative-thinking during the time they would normally spend on commuting. Employers responded to the new hybrid work trend with different approaches. Some traditional employers made the news because of their conservative approach: Morgan Stanley's chief executive told US staff to be back in the office.⁵ JP Morgan also asked employees to return to their offices during the pandemic.⁶ Even employers that come from less conservative industries have asked their employees to return to the office, as is the case with Google, who wanted its people back in the office.⁷ After nearly two years of the pandemic, many employers and employees seem to agree that working from the office a few days a week is the right balance. If we look at the category of employees who have the option to choose between working from home or working from their office, studies have revealed that it's mostly educated workers that have this option.⁸ However, remote work has also allowed more diverse workers from under-represented groups to access the workplace. From mothers with childcare duties, to employees living in remote locations, to disabled employees, more workers from under-represented groups now have gained access to the workplace, thanks to hybrid work and remote work.

Team leaders, managers, and CEOs suddenly had to find ways to build a culture of trust and psychological safety to continue to work together whilst being geographically distributed. Over time, teams that have nurtured a positive culture of psychological safety have enjoyed better relationships, stronger collaboration, improved teamwork, and better performance in hybrid work. The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly transformed the way we work and pushed the limits of what we believed was possible when working together in a remote or hybrid workplace’, or similar. Whilst many team leaders, managers, and CEOs are still working out how to build successful teams in a highly distributed environment, the trend of hybrid work is here to stay and is forcing everyone to find ways of working well together in hybrid teams.