As a veteran of the HR world, I encounter a lot of trends and buzzwords. There's reverse mentoring, quiet quitting, the Great Resignation. For the most part, these describe real things that warrant analysis. Young mentors really do bring fresh perspectives. Some people really do quit in all but name. And there really has been a swathe of workers resigning voluntarily.
Every now and then, however, a new buzzword emerges which, once examined, leaves me cold. "Desk-bombing" is one such. Similar to photo-bombing, it refers to a colleague's sudden appearance at one's desk to do that most inexscusable of things: talk.
One explanation is that workers grew accustomed to going solo during the lockdowns and, once back in-office, felt uncomfortable interacting with colleagues and clients face-to-face. But, if so, surely surprise Zoom calls are much the same thing?
Those who'd rather be left alone in the office treat desk-bombing as if it was some kind of HR issue or breach of contract. It's the same mindset that gave us "desklights" - literally, desktop traffic lights that signal a staff member's availability. And while I grant we've all had moments when we're up against it and shouldn't (much less wouldn't like to be) disturbed, the word "availability" here is really just a euphemism for sociability.
In which case, those who fear desk-bombing should be confronted with a simple question: Why come into the office at all? Granted not everyone has the option, but the whole point of hybrid working - which as of May this year was available to 24% of workers - is to reconnect siloed colleagues. According to a survey by the International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO), the lockdowns were an era in which 24% of young people felt their career aspirations had been destroyed and 41% of colleges reported a spike in mental health referrals.
To the extent that a fear of "desk-bombers" perpetuates the locked down mindset, then, I'm against it. Face-to-face contact is an essential part of being human. It's therefore an essential part of a flourishing workplace culture. And part of being human is the freedom to address another person without recourse to email, Slack, or Teams, useful though these are. More to the point, this freedom is efficient in a way that email chains can never be. Inefficiency costs money.
Leaders, CEOs, and HR departments should bear in mind that it's impossible to foster a cohesive team if some of its members are averse to addressing the others. Tone of voice, facial expressions and anecdotes give us a feel for who we're working with.
Picture an office in which even the simplest of queries goes via satellite, and you've pictured a roomful of robots, not passionate humans united behind the same goals. The advance of AI notwithstanding, I'm no robot, and nor is anyone reading this piece. Desk-bombers of the world, unite!
