If you can do two things at once, rock out to this late 80's tune with Caron Wheeler and Soul II Soul while you read on. Alternatively, if you're working from home and you're taking a break, get up and dance!
Theater people understand the colloquial concept of the Summer Camp Syndrome. A group of actors, designers, directors, and production staff come together to create a show. The nature of the work is intense, intimate, and bonding. During that period of time, personal relationships (perhaps some romantic), will develop. Everyone is convinced that these relationships will endure beyond the run of show, and while some friendships endure, it is more often the case that these connective threads become less bonding over time. It is one of the remarkable things that sets this business apart from others.
The hot topic in our post-pandemic world revolves around the various work from home policies that have been formally or informally adopted in the workplace. In the performing arts, the subject is moot-- our livelihood depends upon social gatherings, and as we have seen throughout the pandemic, the online experience between artist and audience is limited at best, but financially unsustainable to be sure. Office staff may have some options, but performers, stagehands, ushers, engineers, and porters do not.
Meanwhile in the corporate world, workers extoll the virtues of work from home, including work/life balance, family support, environmental sustainability, and a variety of other perfectly reasonable metrics. They make the case that productivity does not suffer, and may even be improved. They can point to a variety of studies that support this theory. They suggest that out that in a pre-COVID world, we were working from home anyway, we just weren't "on the clock." However, the idea that working from home allows the employee a greater measure of freedom is a bit limited, in my view. Aside from playing with the cat, I'm still tethered to the keyboard most of the time.
Employers on the other hand, fuss over productivity, accountability, and equity in the workplace. Employers typically don't focus on the social aspect of the in-person experience of the workplace. We talk about the need for "water cooler" conversations, but the social aspect of work is not something that employers typically focus on, because it is often perceived as secondary to the work itself.
There is some evidence to suggest that the need to be in person is a critical part of the success of an organization, including an understanding that productivity is not the driving force for the employee. Which we all instinctively knew was the case already. Part of liking a job, outside of the work, is enjoying the people you work with. For now, employers seem to be stuck in the narrative of "forcing" employees to come to work, instead of "inviting" them. Big difference.
What is undeniable however, is the value of social connections and the cultivation of a workplace culture. I am a dedicated practitioner of MBWA, or Management by Wandering Around. There is an intangible "energy" that comes with being around people in person. Lost in the online meeting experience are the social cues, group dynamics, and true interaction that comes from being around your colleagues. We are learning the limitations of artificially constructed online "communities." If you are not in the boat together, you are missing out on Summer Camp.
It's fine to have a work from home policy that balances efficiency and productivity with sustainability and work-life balance. But we are social creatures, and if we want to walk the walk about sustaining live performance, we need to talk the talk about why we need to gather together in person at all. We need to get back to life.