The Office is Dying: Its Time to Rethink How We Work

[Johnny2X2X]

9. Adapt or fall behind

We did full WFH for 2+ years, and the managers saw an increase in productivity, not a decrease. But there was an element of mentorship and team building missing that would have showed up over the long term. Now we've gone from a hybrid model, 2-3 days in the office, 2-3 days at home. I absolutely love it. When we started back to the office, I immediately remembered the collaborative parts of the office that I had missed.

As it is now, I am home on Mondays and Fridays, but in the office Tuesday through Thursday, with once or twice a month I stay home on Tuesday or Thursday. Best of both worlds. I plan my high concentration tasks for the days I am home, I schedule meetings or learning sessions for when I am in the office. The work week is so much easier. Thursday feels like the new Friday. Monday is no longer a slog.

And we let people apply for full WFH, 13% of our work force did and it's been good for them too. Know several people who moved away when they went full WFH, they moved to be back near the places they grew up and their families that stayed there. How awesome for them. I do think that the WFH folks will probably be the first to go on average if our industry has a downturn.

Something is missing right now with WFH, waiting for the first company to really develop a model for best leveraging it's benefits while minimizing it's negatives. Some innovative company will set the standard and then it will spread.