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OPINION
Turning the page
I t was 2:11 on a Tuesday afternoon when my colleague pinged me on Teams: “Sorry, but I think we are canceling book club this month. Only four of us accepted and now Courtney has a client conflict.” How a book club sparked connection and a genuine sense of belonging in a hybrid workplace.
I replied moments later: “Are you kidding me?! Noooo. I was really looking forward to it.” If my reply conveys disappointment, it didn’t scratch the surface. Book club was set to begin at 2:30. Not only had I read that month’s 300-plus-page book, I’d blocked off an hour of my day expectantly, wrapping up most of my work responsibilities by 1:30. I even took a walk around the block to clear my head of the big pursuit we were trying to win and refocus on my notes, the questions I wanted to raise to the group. October’s pick was a mystery, a perfect fit for spooky season. I was itching to find out if Kate had predicted the twist, or if Ben found the narrator unreliable. The disappointing ping came just as I was making coffee and slicing up an apple, antsy to sit down with my snack and my New Yorker -worthy analysis. Now, it was canceled. My notes, pointless. The stimulating
conversation with the smart people I spent 40 hours or more a week with, not happening. It’s hard to describe just how much this club had come to mean to us over the last 10 months. To understand, you’d need to know what that year of book club had done for our company culture. More than a year ago, the firm’s leadership – representatives from every department – had met to address our declining workplace culture. COVID had taken its toll on us all, and we weren’t sure where to go from here. Though the hybrid work model felt essential, it also left employees feeling disconnected and disengaged. We didn’t want to lose our flexibility, but we also needed to bring our people back together.
Mercedez Thompson
See MERCEDEZ THOMPSON , page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER JANUARY 6, 2025, ISSUE 1567
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