Common Ground

Does it sometimes feel like your offices have become a battleground in a return-to-office standoff? Perhaps they have, and we should address that.

The most recent findings of Future Forum – a research partnership that includes Slack, Herman Miller, BCG, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow – paint a concerning picture. On one side is a large contingent of company executives (44% of the total surveyed) who want employees back in the office full-time. On the other side is a workforce reticent to abandon working from home and who are increasingly willing to walk as a result.

But here’s the thing – the standoff isn’t just about offices. It’s about whether or not organizations will return to the traditional workweek, as employees desire even more flexibility with when they can work than with where. And while it’s true that most employees don’t want to be in the office full-time, they also don’t want to be fully remote, with more than 80% of knowledge workers saying that they want access to an office for in-person collaboration and team building, among other activities.

Despite that, those of us involved in the creation or management of offices have a problem. We can't let offices become a poster child of organizational control. They need to be understood as common ground for community-building and appreciated by employees and execs alike because people want to be there, not because they're forced to be there.

The report provides useful guidance for organizational leaders on how to embrace flexibility and promote inclusion to bridge this divide, and the same principles apply towards future workplace planning. While Facilities and Corporate Real Estate teams may not be in a position to ease the short-term tensions between execs and employees, they can use this moment to intentionally cast and communicate a long-term vision of their offices as desirable resources to help build community, promote positive organizational values, inspire creativity, create a sense of belonging, and complement working from home.

In fact, enabling employees to spend part of their time working from home actually frees offices to move beyond the dense, desk-intensive designs emblematic of the past and to become what George Nelson, Herman Miller's former Design Director, suggested in 1958. He said that offices should be designed as “a daytime living room where work can be done under less tension and with fewer distractions.” In other words, a place where the whole family can gather.

Despite these current tensions, let's not forget that people enjoy people and a "return to office" (I really dislike that term) will happen over time, not in a day. We gather at restaurants even though we cook at home. We pay to go to concerts even though we stream music in our cars. Students demand to be back on campus when they can more affordably learn online. Offices can be designed to offer great experiences and become a preferred choice even when other options exist, but we must rethink how they support new ways of working. Even if your offices aren't there just yet, now is the time to share that higher standard and to make it clear that future spending on real estate isn't just about providing a place for productivity - it's an investment in community building.