Proximity Matters
Proximity matters.
I once had a job where my office was in a distant corner of the building, as far as possible from my boss and peers -- while still being on the same floor.
I felt disconnected and not part of the team. It was somewhat of a struggle to be connected, but I persevered and luckily the team was open and caring and it worked. When we moved to an office where I was adjacent to my boss and peers, our connections became stronger and we began to talk more informally and become a more unified team.
"When we moved to an office where I was adjacent to my boss and peers, our connections became stronger and we began to talk more informally and become a more unified team."
I took another job where again, my office was placed physically as far as possible from the other leaders in the team, including my boss, while still being technically part of the same space. I was the only leader on the team who was not located along the South wall of the building.
Conversations among the leaders would happen without me unless I physically stood up and walked over to where things were being discussed. For those who were located near the "big boss," their proximity meant they were naturally aware of and involved in conversations. I had to struggle to make contact with my boss, and this person was rarely inclined to seek me out, even though I was ostensibly there to be mentored by this person to take over their role.
What's more, this office was not oriented well to face the outside world, and so unless you caught the angles right, you might not know that I was there, and I had to contort myself to see what was happening outside of my office.
I made significant efforts to connect with others and become visible, but as you might imagine, I was not as effective in that role as I had hoped to be.
CONCLUSION
Physical distance matters.
More distance = less trust and less collaboration.
APPLICATION
How can you address physical proximity in your workplace?
If physical distance can't be changed, what steps can you take to mitigate its effects?
REFERENCES:
https://hbr.org/2022/10/what-is-proximity-bias-and-how-can-managers-prevent-it
https://hbr.org/2016/10/how-microsoft-used-an-office-move-to-boost-collaboration
https://www.scoopforwork.com/resources/what-is-proximity-bias-definition-impact-and-examples
