Remote or Return—You Make the Call

By Geoffrey Moore

Author – The Infinite Staircase: What the Universe Tells Us About Life, Ethics, and Mortality

2023 is the year in which enterprises specializing in knowledge work must find a new normal that balances working remote with coming to an office. There is a lot of anxiety around the topic, both from workers who want to protect their new-found freedom from mandatory commuting as well as from managers who want to meet with their teams in order to enlist and engage their energy. Clearly, a balance is warranted, the question being on what basis?

Let me suggest the following as a starting point. Remote work focused on known tasks is a highly efficient way to get things done. It is good at extracting output from talent. It is not good, however, at developing that talent. The latter requires social interaction, both with managers and with peers, as we learn most from tackling emerging problems and evolving situations that do not have prescribed solutions. To be sure, both home and office offer many distractions that can reduce our effectiveness in these locales, but for now, let us agree that each can produce a net positive in its own right. That begs the question, how should one be dividing one’s time between the two?

I’m going to let the managers worry about the enterprise’s interests. I want to look at this from the individual contributor’s point of view. Here’s the question. How much of your time do you want to devote to producing deliverables with your current talent versus how much do you want to invest in developing future capabilities that would enable you to play a bigger role, earn a higher salary, or make a more powerful impact? 

Let’s be realistic here. You need to be accountable for your current assignments, and that is going to take time, perhaps a whole lot of time. Staying at home gives you all your commute time back, plus all the time you might be spending in meetings of modest value to your work. And, given the amazing collaborative applications that are now widely available, you can get whatever task-specific help you need without going to the office. Do your work, earn your pay, all in the comfort of your own home—what’s not to like?

Two things come to my mind. First, we humans are mammals, and mammals need social interaction to thrive. As a speaker, I spent two years offline as we worked our way through the pandemic and this past year coming back online to engage in public events. I have been struck repeatedly by the sheer amount of pent-up energy released when people who have been engaging with each other virtually get to meet physically, often for the first time—who knew you were so tall? Just for reasons of mental health and happiness, I believe some amount of congregating is essential. So, consider putting that into your equation somewhere.

But back to the point that kicked off this post, to the degree that congregating is foundational to career development, both through building relationships and gaining new skills, how much of your work time are you willing to give to it, given that you will still be on the hook to produce your deliverables? Don’t kid yourself, this is going to add hours to your workday and probably eat into your weekends as well. You are going to feel the difference, and so will your family. How much is this worth to you?

I think the answer depends on the extent to which you see your work as a job (where you do what is required and then get on with the rest of life) versus a career (where you have ambitions and seek opportunities to lean in even when that means extra work). In other words, it is not just work/life balance that matters—there is also job/career balance as well. 

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of balance, but there are lasting consequences to the choices you make, so this issue needs your thoughtful attention. I encourage you to discuss it with loved ones, colleagues, mentors, and any other trusted advisors you may have, work out a plan that fits you best, put it into action, and then be agile enough to adjust as we all learn more about this new world of work.

That’s what I think. What do you think?

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