Page 107 - WHERE WE WORK - Schlegelmilch

Reconfiguring workplaces
Thus, the distributed setting required more effort than when the shared office was part of the workplace configuration. One manager summed up how the relationships changed as a result of it,
“The touchpoints with my inner circle became closer, more frequent and more intense. So, my circle became smaller because everything outside it, I did not really need and did not encounter.” (P18, manager, high tenure)
In doing so, the employee’s core relationships solidified. This effect of the change in workplace configuration on the core relationships may in part be explained by being formally associated with the same client and thus a necessity to keep in touch.
When we asked our respondents how they worked with their project teams, we were surprised at the mention of colleague’s homes as workplaces because being able to work there required the host’s permission. This is an example of how accessibility of workplaces changed along during the closure (negotiated legitimacy). One of our respondents described how he experienced such a work session:
“We sat at the kitchen table but actually that was -- I have good
memories about it and it wasn’t like ‘Oh, how weird that we are sitting in [colleague]’s home’. [...] You are sitting with a laptop at a table, talking about business, so in the end the physical location or the setting isn’t as important. [...] Getting together is important. “(P23, manager, high tenure)
This quote signaled a change from each employee working in their own home (before closure) to also opening one’s home to colleagues (only during closure). Working at colleague's homes was experienced as providing additional personal insights into colleagues and thereby brought them closer. One of our respondents shared an anecdote of how sharing a personal location intensified their relationship:
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