This is a question on everyone’s mind that has no clear-cut answer, in part because of the number of considerations: company size, industry, B2B or B2C, and so on. What works well at one company might fail at another.
Remote work and hybrid schedules have become commonplace, but will they remain? Adjustments, compromises and new strategies have been adopted, but what is temporary and what will have staying power is still being figured out.
Ask anyone who is in charge of managing people and teams and they will tell you – it’s more work to maintain a connected culture when teams and individuals aren’t together.
As businesses seek to make up lost ground over the last two years, important decisions about barriers to productivity moving forward will need to be addressed. Key among them is – where and how will people work and at what impact to work culture?
A year ago, real estate appeared to be an expensive and potentially unnecessary anchor tethered to the bottom lines of many businesses. But after two years of disruption, are we ready to work together again in the office? The New York Times recently reported that while tech companies were among the first to allow employees to work from home, they also are spending billions of dollars expanding their office spaces.
It seems to signal that a return to work is about when, and not if.
What about your business? I’m surveying my readers and podcast listeners, and I would welcome hearing from you and your plan:
- Will you institute a full return to work mandate soon?
- Will your people remain remote – and for how long?
- Will you adopt an ongoing hybrid policy?
- Or do you have a different approach unique to your business?
Click the prompt in the banner on any page of my website where you can share what the future of work looks like for your company.
It will take you less than one minute to complete.
I will aggregate the responses and share feedback anonymously in a future post and podcast episode.