Office romances used to be a thing.
The gossip, the whispers, the secret glances and knowing smiles. The scenes and the upsets, awkward silences and difficult encounters when they went wrong. The shared joy and celebrations when they led to more.
The workplace was far and away the most common place to meet your future partner (even if you had one already…).
Today, dating apps have taken over. Over 40% of people meet their partner through a digital platform. The workplace barely gets a look-in. The office romance is now a rarity.
There’s hardly anything more physical, anything that needs proximity more than sex. Yet it starts digitally for a huge number of people. They don’t need to go to bars, clubs or other communal spaces to initiate the relationship.
So if you think we will always need the office to build our professional relationships, you might want to reconsider. Far more important relationships are being built in virtual spaces. Why would business relationships be so different?
Perhaps instead of an office, we need a mash-up of LinkedIN and Tinder – HookedUP, perhaps?
OK, maybe that’s a step too far. But things are changing.
And the same is true for collaboration, innovation and learning.