- Lauren Pollack
- 3 min read
In the "Anti-Plans Social Butterfly" series, we'll explore how workplace strategy can support the spontaneity and momentum, that drives human connection and innovation.
Operationalizing Momentum for Connection and Collaboration
When momentum is embedded in team culture, employees are more likely to recognize and act on those real-time opportunities that spark meaningful connection and productive collaboration. While spontaneity can’t be forced, it can be encouraged and inspired through planning and design. In the previous two articles, we explored the social dynamics and spatial design that support momentum. In this final installment, we focus on how to integrate in-the-moment connection and collaboration into company culture.
Many organizations assume that simply returning to the office will reignite innovation and cohesion. However, without intentional practices to rebuild workplace culture, that return can fall flat for both employees and leaders. Momentum for collaboration and connection grows when supported by a balance of structure and flexibility, creating the conditions for natural engagement that also drives business outcomes. For Anti-Plans Social Butterflies, it’s the perfect environment for connection to feel real and work to feel alive.
What does that look like?
Budgeting for momentum | Coffee runs, shared lunches, and hallway catchups deserve time and space in the workday. These are signs of a healthy, connected workplace, not distractions. When organizations acknowledge the value of these moments and provide light guidance on how much time to allot weekly, employees gain the psychological safety to participate without second-guessing whether it’s acceptable.
Team agreements | These simple frameworks help teams define best practices for connection and collaboration, allowing momentum-led engagement to flow naturally within agreed-upon boundaries. In support of momentum, agreements can include statements like, “We support 15-minute impromptu brainstorms when someone has a fresh idea.” This gives room for creative, informal engagement while setting expectations that align with work flow.
Etiquette and usage guidance | Clear social and spatial norms help employees make the most of the office. This includes guidance on where to go to follow the energy of a conversation or activity, and how to use on-demand work settings, 1:1 pods, and team zones in ways that support spontaneous interaction without disrupting others. It also ensures the tools and spaces provided are used effectively and as intended.
Team rituals | Recurring, low-pressure gatherings, like midweek lunches or end-of-day happy hours, can help establish a rhythm of informal connection. These are most effective when held during work hours, aligned with team culture, and timed with existing meetings or in-office days.
Ease into scheduled events | Formally scheduled events can feel overwhelming, especially for Anti-Plans Social Butterflies. Consider ways to build pre-event momentum with low-barrier activities like a shared lunch, group coffee run, or casual team hang out before heading to a meeting or company gathering. These warm-ups create interpersonal energy, helping people show up to the main event with more comfort, authenticity, and presence.
Reminding People What They Can Do in the Office
Many employees are out of practice or inexperienced when it comes to participating in a thriving and connected office culture. Some are new to the workforce and have never experienced office life before the pandemic. Others have simply slipped into habits of overworking and minimizing social interaction. Reintroducing people to the full potential of the office, showing them what it can offer socially, professionally, and experientially, can help restore a sense of purpose and possibility in their time on-site.
The perception that coming to the office means eating lunch alone at their desks, sitting through back-to-back meetings, or spending the day on virtual calls with no breaks, the space becomes synonymous with restriction, not support. By re-onboarding employees into a workday and culture that encourages conversation, connection, and authentic energy, organizations can shift how the office is viewed. Rather than feeling restrictive, it becomes a place that strengthens relationships, supports performance, and brings energy to the day.
When organizations model and support a culture of momentum-led connection, the workplace transforms from something to power through into a space that brings out people’s best ideas.
The Anti-Plans Social Butterfly Series Conclusion
In Part 1, we introduced the Anti-Plans Social Butterfly, someone who thrives in authentic, spontaneous connection but resists scheduled socializing. Part 2 shifted the focus to space, showing how proximity, visibility, and design can enable momentum, unlocking better ideas and more effective collaboration.
This final article offers a way to act on both. Supporting momentum-led collaboration and connection means aligning culture, environment, and team rhythms to give people the freedom to follow energy instead of obligation. The most powerful moments at work are often impromptu, emerging from the spark of shared momentum.
Thank you for joining me on this series!
CRUX Workplace
- Lauren Pollack
- 3 min read
In the "Anti-Plans Social Butterfly" series, we'll explore how workplace strategy can support the spontaneity and momentum, that drives human connection and innovation.
Not Every Watercooler Moment Is Magic, But They Still Matter
Serendipity is unexpected, meaningful, and in the workplace, it’s also opportunity.
While I haven’t walked away from every coffee machine chat with a breakthrough idea or game-changing insight, I’ve never left feeling disappointed. The power of these moments isn’t in constant productivity, but in laying the groundwork for connection and the potential for an inspiring conversation down the road. As we mentioned in our last article, these experiences are ideal for Anti-Plans Social Butterflies, who thrive on in-the-moment human connection and collaboration.
Designing for Connection
Visibility, proximity, and informal interactions create the trust and familiarity that make innovation possible, at the watercooler and in the meeting room. These are the moments that strengthen what sociologists call “weak ties,” the casual connections that support collaboration, happiness, and workforce cohesion.
As computer-based collaboration increases, those ties are more important than ever, but many office designs don’t make room for this kind of interaction to happen naturally. This creates a loss of momentum, which Anti-Plans Social Butterflies need to do their best collaborative and relational work.
Hold Over Designs of Traditional Offices
Too often, we see design concepts held over from a different era of technology and work styles. Spaces are optimized for individual work while neglecting the needs of impromptu connection. This results in fewer spontaneous run-ins, less variety in who you see, and nowhere to go when a conversation sparks something worth building on.
These Spaces Often Include:
Oversized and under-occupied meeting rooms with a standard boardroom layout.
Walls that are blank or bearing unrelated artwork with no open writable surfaces, no shared huddle spots, and lack of visual cues that tell employees, “It’s okay to collaborate here.”
Check the box lounge spaces that aren't designed for connection and collaboration.
The excitement of a good idea, followed by the need to schedule time in the future due to meeting room or calendar constraints.
With Anti-Plans Social Butterflies and others, when inspiration hits, scheduling a meeting to hash it out can dull the spark. The energy of momentum-led collaboration is delicate. It needs space and permission to flourish, not a scheduling manager. As we mentioned in the first article, an event looming on the calendar can create unneeded tension and formality around a dynamic process.
What if offices were designed to nurture momentum and Anti-Plans Social Butterflies?
Low-barrier spaces you can drop into for impromptu ideation.
Flexible tools like whiteboards and sketch surfaces that signal "collaboration welcome."
Dynamic furniture layouts that can adapt to different types of collaboration
In Part 1 of this series, we explored how Anti-Plans Social Butterflies thrive in spontaneous connection. This principle can be supported through design. When people, whether Anti-Plans Social Butterflies or not, are given the resources to act on their social or collaborative energy in the moment, connection feels natural, and ideas gain traction.
With a thoughtful workplace strategy, we can elevate both the frequency and the impact of these everyday moments. By removing friction and honoring the spark of momentum, we create a culture where ideas grow, teams connect, and collaboration happens when it’s most relevant. Not every watercooler moment has to be magic, but when the environment supports them, more of them can be.
CRUX Workplace
- Lauren Pollack
- 2 min read
As workplace teams increasingly move under HR leadership, many HR leaders are finding themselves responsible for workplace strategy and real estate decisions—areas that may feel unfamiliar. But here’s the good news: this shift actually makes a lot of sense for where the future of work is headed.
At its core, the workplace is about people—connection, culture, collaboration, well-being, and performance. These are areas HR understands deeply.
When workplace and facilities teams sit within HR, it creates an opportunity to lead with empathy and intention, ensuring that space design supports real human needs. It also opens the door to more engagement-driven strategies—designing with employees, not just for them.
That said, balance is key. HR’s historic focus can create a bias to prioritize what people say they want—like holding onto private offices or dedicated desks—which can unintentionally limit how well the space supports what people need to do. That’s where your partnership with workplace experts becomes essential.
Here are ways HR leaders can support their transition into this expanded role:
Collaborate with workplace experts.
Lean into their knowledge of spatial strategy, utilization data, and design trends. They’ll help translate business goals into environments that truly work. Workplace experts care deeply about how space supports people and may challenge outdated practices that might hinder long-term success.
Engage employees early and often.
Involve employees throughout the process, listen actively, and show how their feedback is shaping outcomes. It builds trust and creates shared ownership.
Innovate how employees are supported during workplace change.
Adapting to a new way of working takes empathy and guidance. Change management, clear communication, and hands-on training help people feel informed and supported.
Shape how culture is expressed through space.
Co-creating etiquette and behavioral expectations helps teams understand how to navigate new environments and collaborate with clarity. Team agreements—an approach that naturally bridges workplace and HR—can help groups collaborate more effectively as ways of working continue to evolve.
Stay curious.
You don’t need all the answers—just a willingness to learn, ask questions, collaborate, and lead with people at the center.
This is an opportunity for HR to support the development of a human-centered and adaptable workplace that aligns with the evolving nature of work. You’ve got this.
CRUX Workplace