Incidental happenstance read online free#

You can hear all kinds of things in a water cooler conversation that wouldn’t get written in an email or said at a meeting. Unlike a well-run meeting, there is no agenda, no timeframe and fewer ‘rules of engagement’. They can also steer the conversation in a wide variety of directions.

Incidental happenstance read online free#

In an informal setting, without any expectations, project members are more free to say what they think.

There are good reasons why the water cooler conversation has become so significant. Maybe the topic will become more social and we’ll have a chat about what my colleague is up to on the weekend.Īnd so the water cooler has become synonymous with information sharing, mingling and connecting – opportunities that are completely unplanned and pure happenstance. The conversation might roam to other interesting tidbits, or a key piece of information about a stakeholder or project deadline. If I hear something interesting in the news, I might share it the next day with colleagues, given an informal opportunity to have a quick chat. Water cooler conversations can happen next to photocopiers, in kitchenettes, in hallways or in the café downstairs. Not every office has an actual water cooler, but take anywhere that people are likely to pause and have a chat and you’ll see the same effect – people chatting informally, connecting and sharing the hidden meaning of events and circumstances. Water cooler conversations are those informal chats among office workers that take place around a physical water cooler. In an agile environment, this seems particularly pronounced. He said, “Not being able to get together in person, particularly internationally, is a pure negative.”Ĭloser to home, a comment I hear consistently from project managers and their teams points to one major downside of remote working – the loss of the ‘water cooler’ conversation. Last year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed his concern: “Maybe we are burning some of the social capital we built up.” Netflix co-founder and co-chief executive Reed Hastings is also clear on the issue. Are you concerned about the impact of remote working on your project team’s culture? You are not alone.