We're Botching Return to Office

We're botching return-to-office. That's what I've decided after dedicating considerable time and energy to the topic this month. What's going on? Why should we be worried? How can we do it better? That and more in this edition.

Current State of Return-to-Office Efforts

Reflecting on the return-to-office transition, one of the challenges has been the number of false starts.

We had an initial wave of return-to-office mandates in 2021, and then omicron said, "Uh...uh, not so fast. Sit back down."

It was almost summer by the time it seemed safe to go back in the water and many organizations didn't want to spoil the lazy, hazy, crazy days, so the refrain became (sing it with me ??) "see you....in September."?

September came, and organizations said things like, "you need to come in a minimum of two or three days a week." What?!? That's like pricing something at $10 OR $15. Who pays $10 in that scenario? And yet, when employees chose two days, leaders got angry. So weird.?

Now we're into 2023, and much like the exasperated parent who's counted to three in hopes of coercing their child to bend to their will, the return-to-office folks are gritting their teeth and getting louder now... "two-and-a-half, two-and-three-quarters, DON'T MAKE ME CALL YOUR FATHER!!!!"

And that's where I picked it up...

1: Battle Royale

The first thing I realized about the current state of the debate is that we're not being honest about what we're fighting about. In?The Return to Office Fight is About Control, Not Productivity, I called BS on the managers who are squawking about how people can't be productive from home. I shared some of the evidence about how that isn't true. Managers want a return to the old-school power they used to have, but, as I outline in the piece, there are many great reasons employees aren't willing to give up their newfound control.?(BTW, I think this is my most shared article ever!)

2: There's No I in Team

As employees get used to their comfy nests (and their $7,200 in average annual savings), something important is eroding.?In?We Should be Fighting for Community, I talk about the costs to our team dynamics, our organizational cultures, and our civic connections from people prioritizing their own comfort and control over the health of the collective. If we don't get past this self-centered phase, we're all going to end up with the communities we deserve, and we won't be happy about it.??

3: Not So Fast

As I listened to employees talk about their reasons for resisting the office, I realized that there's more than the drag of the commute, more than the hefty price tag, the uncomfortable hard pants, and the annoying coworkers. In?Want People Back in the Office? Deal with the Meeting and Email Burden, I uncovered research that suggests that post-pandemic, the only inflation worse than the price of eggs is the percentage of time people spend in meetings. The average office worker is now spending 33 hours a week on meetings and email. Many have been reinvesting the hour(s) they used to spend commuting just to keep up with their individual tasks. Force them back to the office without slaying the meeting and email monsters, and you're sentencing them to do that work on personal time. Ball's in your court, leaders. Want people back, fix the workweek.

How are you reinventing work in a way that meets the needs of the organization while being more humane to employees? Comment, let me know what's working.

Resource of the Month

Forging Stronger Connections

I heard from many of you this month about how beneficial remote work has been for you. You implored us to find alternatives to returning full-time as the only way to foster a strong community. You made many compelling comments urging leaders to be more open, creative, and engaged in fostering healthy team dynamics in remote teams.?

That reminded me of the work I did earlier in the pandemic to create a suite of exercises to strengthen the connection among members of virtual teams. Why not add one of these exercises to your next Zoom meeting??

(Click on the image to download the tool.)

Additional Resources

As always, I'm energized by the smart, generous, insightful people who are thinking and writing in this space. Here are a couple of particularly supercalifragilisticexpealidocious new books out this month!

Collabor(h)ate

My brilliant friend?Deb Mashek?has translated her years of relationship research and consortium consulting into this amazing manual on how to make collaboration work for your organization. If you can bring Deb in as a consultant, I recommend it. If you can't, follow the book and walk through the exercises that will take you from collabor(h)ate to collaborgreat!?

Dear Work

The amazing?Sara Ross?has drafted that breakup letter that so many of us have considered writing. But rather than encouraging you to quit your job, Sara becomes a couples therapist, sitting you down in the comfortable chair across from your job for a candid conversation. Like any good therapist, she puts the onus on you to change the mindset and behaviors that are contributing to the unhealthy relationship. I loved this book!

On the Tube

From my YouTube Channel, here are a couple of videos you might find useful. Please watch, like, comment, subscribe, and share. It will really help the content find a path through the algorithm.

A New Way of Thinking About Conflict Avoidance

It took me too long to realize that as a conflict-averse?person, I was making my life much harder by picking my battles, zipping my lips, and sucking it up. Wanna hear what I realized that made my life so much easier...??

Crappy Boss Series

Struggling with a boss who is unfair or full of double standards? Here are a few strategies to make a dent in the problem (or at least reduce the dent it makes in you!)

From My LinkedIn Couch

I love hanging out on LinkedIn, and I want my page to feel like we're sitting together on a couch and talking about the most important issues facing the future of work. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to chat and help me feel less like I'm blasting out a monologue and more like I'm talking about important stuff with smart people.

Here are a few ideas that really got me thinking this month.

ARE WE THERE YET?

There were many insightful and valuable comments on my posts about return-to-office this month. Here is a small selection.?

Elaine Lajeunesse, ICD.D, CPCC, PCC and I had a great conversation about the poor showing of many leaders. She said,?"I’m more and more convinced that this return to work stance is a big admission of leadership failure and a bit of leadership laziness. While meeting teams in person is important, it is not the only way of creating a team culture. For a team culture to thrive, one must invest in it and take the time."?

Peter Smith called attention to the economic component of the return to work debate.?"A factor you did not mention was the pure economics of work from home versus work from the office. When employees were ordered to work from home at the beginning of the pandemic, we implicitly gave many higher disposable income by reducing their cost of gas and car maintenance, transit, parking, business wardrobe, lunches and lattes. We also gave them more free time by removing their daily commute. For many, their standard of living went up. Some even moved farther away from their office to reduce their cost of housing. Now, with "return to office," we are asking people to re-absorb those costs and time in return for no perceived benefit."

Krithika Srinivasan added,?"The part about managers wanting control struck me the most. For the longest time, employees were paid for the time they spent. And now to pay for outcomes, a different mindset is needed along with different metrics. Training has to be super-strong. And you need better ways to showcase visibility."?I could agree more.

Thanks to everyone who comes to sit on my LinkedIn couch to share, debate, challenge, and learn together.?

Thank You, Thank You!

So many wonderful people to thank for spreading the word about how to make teamwork work.?

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal for having me as a guest on the How We Work podcast. Check out the?episode?to hear my best tips on how to ingratiate yourself with a new boss.?

Thanks to the great folks at Fintrac and at Service Canada for inviting me to speak with your leaders.

I have so much gratitude for our partnership with The Talent Company . Thank you for sharing your platform so I could rant about the Top 5 Leadership Crises I see brewing. (If you want to hear the talk, it's?here.)?

Thanks to everyone who responded to the last newsletter and everyone in this community for all you're doing to make teamwork work. I love hearing from you, whether that's to share how the ideas are resonating, suggest a topic you'd love me to cover, or challenge me on something you don't agree with. Keep it coming!?