I’ve written before about how learning was going to change as a consequence of the pandemic and lockdown. It’s multi faceted with location, working hours, job role, and job design factors all impacting on how our learning might need to be designed differently to reflect the changing workplace. For many, the workplace is still shifting and I realise the other day we haven’t established what the new social norms are yet.

Social norms would be the usual, typical, standard, or expected ways of behaving at work. They’re not imposed; they can’t be. The idea of being able to control social norms is a non-runner – just look at the banks attempting to get employees back into the office for a minimum number of days each week. And this comes from a position of fear:

CEOs liken remote work to opening Pandora’s box. Lift the lid, and there’s no telling what kind of employee demands will come streaming out.

The real reason bosses are freaked out by remote work

We might be post lockdown but we are still, in many cases, peri hybrid. The norms of work are pliant and fluid. They can be influenced but not set.

If we can’t pin down what work will be like – and if learning is the work – we’ll not able to pin down what workplace learning will be for some time, maybe ever.