Anyone remember virtual events during the pandemic? Our B2B events business has never been in better health. If ever there was a barometer for people wanting to knowledge share, network and meet peers/clients. Berlin at the end of the month, Orlando in March. Accounts might be as effective from home but they have zero people skills anyway.
whatever I don’t disagree with many of these sentiments, but again - it’s too broad a brush, and sweeping. There are plenty of folks who prefer working in an office - some of them for some of the week, but some of them for all of it. Whether that’s because they don’t have room at home, have kids that’ll distract them, or they just want to be able to keep a distinct line between work and home.
The best companies, for me, acknowledge this, by providing a decent working space for those that want it when they want it, but provide total flexibility to those that don’t - and ensure their management teams are capable of running virtual teams as effectively as colocated teams.
Definitely. There are a lot of good companies that do meet different needs — and for sure, many people want to work in an office environment.
My pushback is against the idea that the companies that force a return to work in spurious grounds and think that offering a a range of beverages makes up for it.
whatever My pushback is against the idea that the companies that force a return to work in spurious grounds and think that offering a a range of beverages makes up for it.
100%. The most spurious I’ve come across was the company I was working for during the pandemic. They tried to enforce a 5 day RTO policy post pandemic, because the company had spunked £5m on an office refurb in late 2019, and they wanted to ‘get value’ out of it. Fuckwits.
I get hacked off in my office. Meeting rooms booked up everywhere and hot desks all taken by the time I get in. Fuck that for a game of soldiers. All my clients use Teams/zoom/Google anyway so why should I be in an office for that? I do go in when there’s a free drinks/food event though. That’s plenty of networking thanks. I’ve done years of commuting in and out of London and I can’t be arsed doing that any more ta.
Millsy Meeting rooms booked up everywhere and hot desks all taken by the time I get in.
And the noise in these open plan offices. No thanks.
vinnyt77 1) Most managers don’t trust their workforce to work unless they have eyeballs on them, and
2) Most managers have no idea how to set realistic objectives and goals that they want their teams to deliver. As a result, those mnagers feel more comfortable when they can ‘see’ what their teams are working on, in person.
If you had a hand in employing someone, interviewed them etc. and then don’t trust them you need to have a word with yourself. I’d argue a lot of it is more ego driven though, you can’t lord it over someone and feel important about yourself if you don’t have an audience. I once had a boss sprint up the stairs so he could push past me at the office door and be the first in, promptly giving it the big ‘MORNING TEAM!!!!!’ whilst looking pink in the face and struggling for breath.
mono-stereo My last place was an open room of just under a 100 people, basically impossible to work without noise cancelling headphones. Was a new purpose built building too, no idea what they were thinking.
whatever there is the counter argument which is lots of people only want to wfh and are convinced working in an office is outdated and no longer a good thing. It’s a slightly selfish view as it only focusses on what they want, not what’s best all round for the company and other employees. I’ve had a couple of examples in the office where several of us have had a quick catch up on an issue / update, but then as we need someone else involved who is wfh we can’t do it there and then. We then have to find a meeting room to dial them in or all go to our desks and do a Teams call. That’s not ideal.
However as I’ve mentioned it’s all about balance and what’s best all round for everyone. Everyone needs to be reasonable as some things work for them and others don’t. It won’t be perfect
My work would love to have me in every day, light up the place as soon as I walk in.
Energy, bants and panache, I should ask for a pay rise.
I think I would say something similar to what I said to Vinny above. I don’t think a one-size-fits-all approach is good on either side of the argument. I managed teams during the pandemic and was quite surprised by the number of people that wanted to be in the office because of loneliness, home environment etc. Imagine how Ed’s Julie would find it if he was at home every day — everyone needs some respite, right?
The main point I am trying to make — and maybe I should have added a bit more nuance when I posted — is the disingenuous reasons advanced by some employers for why they employees can’t wfh and the pantomime of ‘well we provide x amenities, so that’s alright isn’t it’. Linked to this, is that it is becoming increasingly common for businesses — the tech industry being an example — that offer onsite gyms, cafeterias etc. specifically to keep employees onsite for as long as possible, which is antithetical to the notion of employees striking a balance between work and home and points to the real reason behind ‘you can’t work flexibly but have you seen our fridge packed with Diet Coke?’.
I won’t work for a company that doesn’t have offer bean bags and table football.
An old school arcade game, Pac Man or Street Fighter2 a bonus too.
A lot of nervous people in Washington DC at the moment it seems
Three fights in the first nine seconds between Canada and USA at the ice hockey 
