Who knew the coffee machine played music?

Written Thursday 3 June 2021

Today I went into the office. After a 15 month gap it finally happened. And it felt surprisingly normal.

I don't have to go in as the guidance is still to go work at home if you can but have increasingly felt the desire to sit with colleagues, grab some post it notes and pens and co-create a solution using a white board. And the impetus came with the need to create a new business plan for my area of the business.

What felt normal:
- packing a bag to travel and heading to the train station
- being in the office
- seeing and working with colleagues

What was not expected:
- the amount of packaging round my lunch (this definitely doesn't happen in my kitchen when I make lunch from the fridge)
- motion sickness on the train travelling home
- the coffee machine playing music when it made coffee
- that it felt normal!

What was wonderful:
- meeting a colleague for breakfast
- hugging!

And I'm not the only one who was surprised it felt so normal... several colleagues commented that they had been really reluctant to come back to the office when it was proposed last summer but are now embracing the opportunity and reflecting that it feels normal