Dan Schawbel Just Wants You to Be a Human

September 25, 2019 · 5 min read

Feeling disconnected or dissatisfied at work?  Dan Schawbel Dan Schawbel

Ever had an entire conversation on Slack with a coworker who sits directly next to you? Is working remote not living up to its promises as you make your 15th lap around the living room? 

You're not the only one. More people are feeling dissatisfied or disconnected at work...but career coach and serial entrepreneur Dan Schawbel might have some answers for you. 

Dan recently sat down with the Brew to discuss his latest book, Back to Human, and what young millennials need for a successful workplace. 


Brew: Why did you write this book? 

Dan: My mission is to make the workplace more human. People are more burned out than ever before and feel really disconnected and lonely. 80% of employees aren't engaged in their jobs. When you have a poor work experience, that creeps into your home life. 

My intended audience is new managers who feel disconnected from their teammates and would like coaching. Technology has created the illusion of connection. At the same time, a lot of those connections are weaker; and what we all want in the workplace is strong relationships because that leads to higher engagement, lower turnover, and overall happiness.

If you think about it, we spend a third of our lives working, a third not working, and a third sleeping. If we don't focus on creating a better workplace for people, that's going to impact our entire lives. 

Does anyone really work eight hours a day anymore? 

People can only really work about four or so hours a day focused. Otherwise you're just goofing around, you're in meetings...but people feel like they're always working. Part of what I talk about in Back to Human is people are always on, and if you're always on, you're never present. Every time you stare at that device, you're not looking at a human anymore. People are tapping or swiping their phones over 2,600 times each day, looking at their phone every 12 minutes, and sending an average of five texts during each meeting. 

They're physically there, but not mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. So you can be with a lot of people and no one at the same time. Technology companies built their products to be addictive. Every time you hear an alert, you want pick up your phone and it releases dopamine, which pleases our reward system. It's like a drug or a slot machine. 

One of the big things Silicon Valley VCs are talking about is that there are multiple ways to start a company. One is to have a centralized location; one is to be fully remote; one is the in-between. A lot of people are saying the in-between doesn't work and are pushing for fully remote. What will differentiate workplaces when there's so much remote work? 

It's interesting because on one side you're seeing more companies have remote workforces to save money and because people want flexibility. On the other hand, you have companies saying we want everyone to work in an office. To have some people work remote and other people not creates friction. 

It's complicated because you have to think about your workforce holistically, but also individually what are your needs. Do you want to come in? Are you better at working in the afternoon, in the morning? Someone else is a morning person, they wake up at 6 AM and start, but they want to get out at 3. So it's complicated. Have the awareness that not everyone goes into one big bucket. 

I think flexibility in a workspace is important too. Part of the reason WeWork works is the illusion of community. People want to be in a social environment without being social. It's psychological. This model has worked well and a lot of big companies have copied it because it's flexibility of space that caters to the individual but also has structure. 

What's a big misperception we have now about technology in the workplace and how it affects team dynamics? 

People think they have to use these technologies to stay relevant, and I think this creates a lot of miscommunication in the workplace. I did a study of 2,000 managers and employees in 10 countries and we found that the biggest thing that gets in the way of face-to-face communication in the workplace is email. Yet a study in the Harvard Business Review found that one face-to-face interaction was more successful than 34 emails. 

So pick up a phone or walk two steps and tell someone what you mean. Because if you're communicating through email, the message isn't getting across, which means it's counterproductive and ineffective. 

Technology enables remote workplaces, but you write about how these environments also have problems. How do we make the most of them?

The big change between now and 20 years ago is that the workplace is more decentralized. You get freedom and flexibility to work when, where, and how you want; the dark side is that can leave you isolated and lonely. Only 5% of people who work remotely full time say they want a long-term career with their company. That's compared to 28% who never work remote. So what's interesting now is that the No. 1 employee benefit for people our age is flexibility, but that comes at a cost too.

Part of how to solve loneliness and isolation is to make things consistent. Some of the smartest companies realize that even though they have a dispersed team, human connection is important. They'll travel to visit remote sites or empower remote workers to lead meetings.

What are some things we can start doing tomorrow to start getting back to human? 

One of the biggest things at home and in meetings is putting your phone in the middle of the table or not in the room altogether. It forces good behavior. You want to treat people like adults, but technology addicts you. If you can, remove it in situations where being present is important. 

Practice share learning. It's pretty simple: When I learn, I share. Leaders of the past would hoard information and not share it as a way to gain power. But now, the average lifespan of a skill is about five years. Things are moving really fast. In order to keep up with changes in the workplace and demands of the marketplace, we need to rely on each other and share what we know. Getting in the habit will get people more connected and engaged.

Did anything surprise you while doing research for the book? 

We found that 7% of the global workforce has zero friends at work. It raised a whole discussion about is friendship is important. I point to a famous study by Gallup and Tom Rath called "Vital Friends" about how if you have friends (especially best friends) at work and you're engaged, you will eventually be more successful. 

I think who you work with is more important than the work you do. If you're not really passionate about what you do but you have great supportive coworkers, you can make that situation work for longer. 


Ready to read? 

Grab your copy of Back to Human and let us know how you implement Dan's lessons in your workplace.  

Keep up with Dan outside the book by subscribing to his monthly newsletter Promote Yourself, which is filled with career advice, book recommendations, and workplace trends. Also check out his podcast, in which he asks notable guests 5 questions to get their best career advice.


Meet the author

What are you reading or listening to? Nir Eyal's book Indistractable. I'm big into podcasts like The Jordan Harbinger Show.

What are you watching? I like documentaries. I purposely don't sign up for Netflix or cable because I know I can't binge.

NYC restaurant recommendation? Taverna Kyclades, on 1st Ave. and 14th. 

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