Why Your Return-to-Office Policy Needs a Remote Working Group

The evidence is clear: people work better together. Unfortunately, the people responsible for explaining this are based in four cities, two time zones and a converted barn in Gloucestershire. The solution is a remote working group to oversee the return to the office.

This is not a contradiction. It is a distinction between the people who need proximity to perform and the people whose contribution travels perfectly well over broadband. The distinction generally appears somewhere around director level.

Begin with a listening exercise

Invite employees to describe what would make office attendance more worthwhile. They may suggest quiet rooms, reliable equipment or a commute that does not cost the equivalent of a small appliance. Record these suggestions under “communications challenges”.

The purpose of listening is to understand why people have not yet agreed with the decision. It is not to reopen the decision. Make this clear in the invitation, immediately below the words “Your voice matters”.

Design the collaboration

Require everyone to attend on the same three days, except those whose managers have agreed different days. Remove half the desks to create a more dynamic environment. People who cannot find a seat can collaborate by standing behind people who can.

Do not book meeting rooms for video calls. Reserve them for meaningful in-person interaction, then fill them with the confidential calls senior management cannot take at a desk. The rest of the business can discuss commercially sensitive matters beside the kettle.

Measure presence with precision

Track badge swipes. A person who enters the building, buys a coffee and leaves has supplied a clean data point. A person who completes a complex piece of work at home has merely introduced ambiguity.

If productivity falls, attribute this to the transition. If it rises, attribute it to the policy. This gives the programme a robust evaluation framework without exposing it to the inconvenience of a negative result.

Lead visibly

The executive sponsor should announce the policy by video from a bright room containing no other employees. Explain that leadership is about outcomes, not location. This principle is sound, provided it does not spread.

After six months, bring the working group together for an off-site. The office, while essential for everyone else, is not the right environment for this sort of thinking.