Something a little different happened in an office I was in the other morning.

We’d had a significant snowfall overnight – different in itself to the norm, but not the difference that this particular office is here highlighted for. No.

Several of us had made it in – leaving home early, walking rather than driving, regretting coming for fear of how to get home later in the day, worrying about childcare arrangements, school closures, cancelled meetings, suitable footwear, abandoned cars and freezing temperatures.

But it wasn’t the content of the early morning discussion that appealed to me or what I really noticed. It was something far more significant. It was that people were talking to each other.

There was laughter, there were giggles, there were people asking about each other’s snow predicaments, there were offers of lifts home and clear directions from managers that it might not be possible for business as usual, and that that would actually be ok – people’s welfare came first.

The buzz in the office was tangible.

I’m not hoping for snow every day – any day – but I would like to think that it doesn’t always have to be inclement weather that brings people together just to talk about what really matters to them and to show each other that they care.