Slack chief executive has an advice on hybrid work culture

During the lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 pandemic, people collaborated virtually on platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, among others to smoothly carry out their day-to-day work. With Covid-19 effects waning, companies have started calling employees to resume working in offices in a hybrid manner. However, people are connecting over apps to attend meetings even if they are in the office. This has Stewart Butterfield, Slack‘s chief executive, questioning the current practices.

Butterfield says that employees working in an office and doing their jobs at home should not be the same. “…being in the office should be an opportunity to do things that cannot be done at home. Sitting at a desk with headphones on is not one of them,” BBC quoted Butterfield as saying.

“The best thing we can do is create a comfortable environment for people to come together and actually enjoy themselves. It’s hard to imagine starting your career fresh out of university, and not going to the office, and not being able to meet all these people in person,” he was quoted as saying.

Butterfield also echoes the idea introduced by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He agrees that a “six-page memo” could do the same job as sitting in a meeting watching a PowerPoint presentation. “There probably are 20% or 30% (of meetings) that don’t actually have to be meetings, that would be more effective with written communication,” he says.

Slack in India
Earlier this year, Slack announced its entry into the Indian market. The company says that it wants to help companies with their digital transformation and help the transition to a hybrid workplace by establishing a digital headquarters (‘Digital HQ’). Slack has been present in India over the last four years, though this was focused mainly on research. It has had a product engineering team in India since 2018, located in Pune.

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During the lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 pandemic, people collaborated virtually on platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, among others to smoothly carry out their day-to-day work. With Covid-19 effects waning, companies have started calling employees to resume working in offices in a hybrid manner. However, people are connecting over apps to attend meetings even if they are in the office. This has Stewart Butterfield, Slack‘s chief executive, questioning the current practices.

Butterfield says that employees working in an office and doing their jobs at home should not be the same. “…being in the office should be an opportunity to do things that cannot be done at home. Sitting at a desk with headphones on is not one of them,” BBC quoted Butterfield as saying.

“The best thing we can do is create a comfortable environment for people to come together and actually enjoy themselves. It’s hard to imagine starting your career fresh out of university, and not going to the office, and not being able to meet all these people in person,” he was quoted as saying.

Butterfield also echoes the idea introduced by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He agrees that a “six-page memo” could do the same job as sitting in a meeting watching a PowerPoint presentation. “There probably are 20% or 30% (of meetings) that don’t actually have to be meetings, that would be more effective with written communication,” he says.

Slack in India
Earlier this year, Slack announced its entry into the Indian market. The company says that it wants to help companies with their digital transformation and help the transition to a hybrid workplace by establishing a digital headquarters (‘Digital HQ’). Slack has been present in India over the last four years, though this was focused mainly on research. It has had a product engineering team in India since 2018, located in Pune.

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