The Subtle Loss of the Human Touch

Donuts, Muffins, Pastries and Coffee. These are the things that surround - and some would say support - the modern business meeting. Rarely can you go to a significant meeting in any technology company either and avoid the sweets and the scent of coffee. Does this bother me? As a connoisseur of sweets, it does not in the least.

However, a modern problem plagues the future of donuts and coffee at meetings; It is the internet. What used to be a regular part of working in a company (a face to face meeting of people on a team) is dissappearing as fast as any endangered species. Due to the rise widespread use of technology meetings (especially in my company) are increasingly held virtually. On my team we have a semi-regular occurance of people who call in to meetings who by the way do not live far enough away to warrant calling in. You lazy #$@!*%$'s know who you are.

Not only is the way we meet being affected on our team, but also the way our team is organized. After a recent reorg in human resources, my team is now half in the Northeast US and the other half is in the Southeast US. And the manager is also located in the Southeast. Don't get me wrong, the structure makes sense in terms of our skills and direction, but we're hundred's of miles away from each other.

Well, one advantage to this all is that due to technology, it's possible to work at home more and more. If half your team-mates are on the other side of the US (did I say with the manager?) then it matters less when you are in your office. You could be at home working in your underwear and nobody would notice.

In my mind, the tradeoff between working at home and the donuts may not be a deal. What we've lost is more than just the snacks and drinks, but a oversight of the truth of business and the reality of human beings: work can be hard and boring and we need something sweet to keep us going if at least for the day. And not having meetings with these amenities denies us the recognition of the fundamentals of work and being human beings, or at least it is the start of such denial.

Perhaps donuts and coffee isn't the lifeblood of the American business but its absence does mean something. Thinking about this subject I was reminded about our need to be connected to others, having a relationship and validating our existence as people. Does coffee and donuts do all this, probably not. But it can help provide an atmosphere in which people can briefly drop their roles in the workplace and show their human side to one another and engage in relationship. Sounds good to me anyways. So grab your insulated thermos, pick up that raisin cruller and fill up on relationship.