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www.canadianlawyermag.com 47 productive work. Technology should support collaboration, not get in the way of it. Innovation Microsoft is one organization that saw a reduction in innovation as a result of not moving to a hybrid working culture. Tools such as Gather can be used to create casual interactions between staff that give rise to ideas, or to hold online hackathons to generate a pipeline of creativity. Too many organizations still leave the definition of working culture to chance, or else hope that it 'naturally' evolves to suit the new working conditions. It almost never does, and senior managers will seek to blame the new ways of working rather than their under- investment in cultural evolution. Defining the culture required to meet the challenges or opportunities that hybrid work will bring needs to be done as early as possible. The world has changed, so the way work gets done needs to evolve to meet that. their purpose in life. Once they have that knowledge, empathy for others becomes easier, and communication is strong. Vision One report at the end of 2020 found that only 30% of organizations surveyed felt they had clear consensus on their new vision post- pandemic, which led to a detrimental impact on morale. The vision is an aspirational statement of what the culture is striving to achieve, and it should provide excitement around what's achievable in the next 12 months, not the goal pre-pandemic. Values Values should provide emotional bonds and be lived in plain sight in every interaction between staff members. These may have changed during the pandemic. One organization I worked with added "Vulnerability increases our humanity" to demonstrate the increase in transparency required to be successful in its hybrid working. Behaviour By far the biggest impact on culture during the pandemic was seen in the behaviours of employees. Fear, anxiety, confusion and anger understandably undermined produc- tive work at various stages during 2020 and 2021. Redefining the behavioural expec- tations of staff will increase responsibility and accountability and ensure that all staff understand where their opportunities for improvement and growth lie. Collaboration Implementing collaboration tools won't improve the way people interact unless there is agreement as to how people will use them and respect each other's need for time to do Too many organizations still leave the definition of working culture to chance, or hope that it 'naturally' evolves to suit the new working conditions. It almost never does Colin D. Ellis is bestselling author of The Hybrid Handbook: How to Set Yourself Up for the Future of Work and helps organizations around the world transform their working cultures.