full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Tsedal Neeley: 4 ways to make hybrid work better for everyone

Unscramble the Blue Letters


First, coordinate aocnhr days. When we go to the ofcife, let's make sure we overlap with our colleagues and collaborators. That’s why we call these “anchor” days. Otherwise, we'll find ourselves in the office with no one around. No use in gathering at the water cooler if we're the only ones there.

Second, plan spontaneity. In my work, I've haerd over and over again that while people prize the flexibility of hybrid work, they long for informal and spontaneous interactions with their colleagues. This is a classic paradox, but it's quite solvable through what we call structuring unstructured time. One thing to try is to set aside the initial six to seven metuins of an hour-long meeting for ifnormal chat about non-work mttares, just to talk or even complain. You can also ask people the one word that describes how they're doing, verbally or in chat. You can have informal contact by scheduling vituarl or in-person lunches with your colleagues, bakres for coffee, tea or a snack, and even hppay hour trivia cgehllnae. If you're a leader, you should demonstrate the value of informal talk by initiating it yourself.

Open Cloze


First, coordinate ______ days. When we go to the ______, let's make sure we overlap with our colleagues and collaborators. That’s why we call these “anchor” days. Otherwise, we'll find ourselves in the office with no one around. No use in gathering at the water cooler if we're the only ones there.

Second, plan spontaneity. In my work, I've _____ over and over again that while people prize the flexibility of hybrid work, they long for informal and spontaneous interactions with their colleagues. This is a classic paradox, but it's quite solvable through what we call structuring unstructured time. One thing to try is to set aside the initial six to seven _______ of an hour-long meeting for ________ chat about non-work _______, just to talk or even complain. You can also ask people the one word that describes how they're doing, verbally or in chat. You can have informal contact by scheduling _______ or in-person lunches with your colleagues, ______ for coffee, tea or a snack, and even _____ hour trivia _________. If you're a leader, you should demonstrate the value of informal talk by initiating it yourself.

Solution


  1. matters
  2. minutes
  3. virtual
  4. office
  5. informal
  6. breaks
  7. happy
  8. heard
  9. challenge
  10. anchor

Original Text


First, coordinate anchor days. When we go to the office, let's make sure we overlap with our colleagues and collaborators. That’s why we call these “anchor” days. Otherwise, we'll find ourselves in the office with no one around. No use in gathering at the water cooler if we're the only ones there.

Second, plan spontaneity. In my work, I've heard over and over again that while people prize the flexibility of hybrid work, they long for informal and spontaneous interactions with their colleagues. This is a classic paradox, but it's quite solvable through what we call structuring unstructured time. One thing to try is to set aside the initial six to seven minutes of an hour-long meeting for informal chat about non-work matters, just to talk or even complain. You can also ask people the one word that describes how they're doing, verbally or in chat. You can have informal contact by scheduling virtual or in-person lunches with your colleagues, breaks for coffee, tea or a snack, and even happy hour trivia challenge. If you're a leader, you should demonstrate the value of informal talk by initiating it yourself.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
remote work 2


Important Words


  1. anchor
  2. breaks
  3. call
  4. challenge
  5. chat
  6. classic
  7. coffee
  8. collaborators
  9. colleagues
  10. complain
  11. contact
  12. cooler
  13. coordinate
  14. days
  15. demonstrate
  16. describes
  17. find
  18. flexibility
  19. gathering
  20. happy
  21. heard
  22. hour
  23. hybrid
  24. informal
  25. initial
  26. initiating
  27. interactions
  28. leader
  29. long
  30. lunches
  31. matters
  32. meeting
  33. minutes
  34. office
  35. overlap
  36. paradox
  37. people
  38. plan
  39. prize
  40. scheduling
  41. set
  42. snack
  43. solvable
  44. spontaneity
  45. spontaneous
  46. structuring
  47. talk
  48. tea
  49. time
  50. trivia
  51. unstructured
  52. verbally
  53. virtual
  54. water
  55. word
  56. work