The right and wrong reasons to get people back to the office

On Saturday night I went to my first proper party, a dear friend’s 50th, since the Before Times. It was fabulous. There were so many people there I hadn’t seen in ages – some for nearly 30 years (how did I get to be so old?) - and some delightful new people to meet as well.

I woke up with a hoarse, scratchy voice… unaccustomed to having to talk over loud music for hours on end, and oddly, a little more tired than usual. It was worth it.

There is definitely a great pleasure in being in person with people. We are social creatures, and the warmth and connection I felt being right there surrounded by friends old and new simply cannot be replicated over Zoom.

Thinking about work, I wonder if that is the main – perhaps sole? – reason to get together in person. Building warm, connected teams of people who really know each other and feel like part of a group seems like a very valid reason to get everyone together.

Having them sit mutely in a meeting room with you while you run through a list of work in progress, or silently at desks near each other – not so much.

Here in New South Wales, this week is the beginning of reduced COVID restrictions and a return to the office for many. Among senior leaders, I still hear quite a few who would love to get everyone back in the office all the time. If asked, they would profess it to be for reasons of community and connection. In fact, I suspect in many cases it’s about surveillance and control.

We are not facing a choice between “in the office” and “remote” work.

Rather, it’s a generational opportunity to consider, specifically, what is best done where, by and for whom, and to design for that.

When that process is underpinned by trust and respect for each other, it is highly unlikely to result in an “all in” or “all out” result.

If you want to keep your talented people, you need to hear what they are telling you. Some are fine with commuting into an office 5 days per week and sitting around there. Some actively want to be in the office, at least some of the time. Others would rather have those six weeks per year of commuting back and will quit rather than be forced to come in.

It’s your call.

Until next week,

Take care of yourself and others

Madeleine

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