Successfully Navigating A Return to the Office
- Farrar Frazee
- Apr 1
- 4 min read
Leaders, can we please stop using the phrase “Return to Work” to describe transitioning back to a central office?
As someone who has worked from home for the past seven years—including as an SVP leading a large team—while struggling to manage the “life” part of my work-life balance due to 60+ hour workweeks, I promise I was doing a lot more working than homing. I rarely had clean, matching socks. I never left work. Language is powerful.
There are several ways to ease the transition back to an office-based work arrangement while maintaining employee engagement in both the short and long term.
Key Considerations for Leaders
When moving teams to an office-based work arrangement, consider the following:
1) Can you articulate a good business-related reason for this transition?
This is crucial because you will need to explain it repeatedly, and employees will poke holes in a shaky rationale.
It makes sense to me that a creativity-based company like an ad agency would need people together. Collaboration all day, every day, clients calling with feedback on that artwork and now you’ve got to pull the team together again, etc. etc. Makes sense. A scheduling center though…short of an absence of the technology needed to make this work, it may be harder to justify this one.
“I can’t measure the work” is not a good reason. Good management practices remove this concern. I had over 50 employees working from all over the country and I always knew who was working and who was not.
2) Are employees moving TO this arrangement or BACK TO it?
The difference is that one group has done this before and knows what tools they need to manage office-based work life, while the other does not. If your team falls into the "haven't done this before" category, you need a more thoughtful program (tips are coming).
Moving to an office-based arrangement requires strategizing new logistics, which can include:
Grocery shopping (which used to be done during the lunch break and now will need to be done on the weekend or by delivery)
Ferrying children to and fro
Rearranging workout arrangements and times
Sorting out a mode of transportation and parking
and the list goes on.
Please don’t underestimate this. It’s well documented that home discombobulation affects work performance. Help your employees transition for this reason if nothing else.
Another overlooked factor? Clothing. In some companies, remote employees wear business casual attire, but office environments may require more formal dress. During my years of remote work with little travel, I owned maybe one pair of nice heels. I sat crisscross applesauce in my chair for 10 hours a day—what did I need heels for?
Ok, so let’s imagine you’ve searched your soul, and you’ve decided employees have to come back to the office. Ok, I’m with you. As your coach, I always support your decisions. So how do we do this in a way that keeps people from rebelling? I have a few thoughts:
Tips for Moving to Office-Based Work
These things are especially important if you are transitioning to office-based work for the first time.
1) Retain as much flexibility as you can.
A layered approach to flexibility has an exponential flex effect. Consider:
Tight core business hours. Maybe 10 AM–3 PM. This ensures collaboration while allowing employees to start earlier or later based on personal needs.
Work-from-home allowances. Whether it’s 5 days a month or 2, set clear expectations with blackout days or weeks to maintain team synergy.
Flex time for short personal commitments. Avoid forcing employees to use PTO for appointments, school events, or minor obligations under half a day.
2) Go slow.
If your teams haven’t worked in the office before, they need time to adjust. Consider:
At least two months of lead time before enforcing full-time office attendance.
A phased approach, such as requiring 3 in-office days per week before transitioning to full-time.
3) Evaluate your benefits.
If employees were reimbursed for cell phones and internet while remote, will those funds now cover parking, commuting expenses, wardrobe updates, or childcare?
While you can’t effectively work and simultaneously care for your toddler, it’s reasonable to work with your 8-year-old home after school. But you can’t leave an 8-year-old home alone.
Employees will calculate these costs down to the dollar—so should you. Otherwise, “Come back to our beautiful office” will sound a lot like “We’re cutting your pay.”
4) Define your policy clearly.
Will all employees return to the office, or just certain roles?
Are hybrid arrangements available?
Ensure the program is clear, consistent, and fair.
5) Consider work styles.
We all know that the workforce has some introverts and some extroverts. If your reaction is “well people just need to speak up,” I encourage you read THIS BOOK and reconsider. My quietest employees have many times been my most brilliant.
Provide some quiet spaces for the people who need it. I don’t recommend sticking a data analyst in a bullpen.
6) Over-communicate.
Explain the why behind this shift over and over. Employees need to hear:
Why the transition is happening
How it will work
That you know it’s a complex change
How you will support them
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