Some people just can’t wait to get back to the office. They thought working from home would be a big win for them. But as it turns out, it was a massive fail. They can’t wait to get back to the office. To get them back into the office, all you need to do is unlock the doors and reactivate their security badges. They are already sold. If you are trying to get your office back up and running, that has to be music to your ears.
Unfortunately, the music goes from dance to dirge when you realize that just as many of your workers want to continue working from home, and will fight, kicking and screaming, any effort to drag them back into the office. If you really want to get them back, you are going to need to do more than send them harshly worded letters. They will just find someplace else to work that is more open to remote work. You have to understand why they don’t want to come back to the office and offer them reasons to want to come back. That is not as difficult a challenge as you might believe. Here is some of what you need to do to get your workers back into the office with a smile on their faces.
Get some modern office furniture
Not everyone is working at a cramped and cluttered kitchen table. Some people have really decked out their home office with all the latest gear and office furniture. To entice them back, you might want to start with something as simple as a modern conference table. It could be a classic design with the addition of power and USB ports for proper connectivity.
From there, give a little more thought to the chairs on which you want your workers to sit all day. You can’t hope to get them interested in sitting in a garbage chair all day when they have upgraded to something much more ergonomic. In fact, some have left the chair entirely in favour of a standing desk. It used to be that the only people who had any kind of standing setup were the managers or team leads. That won’t do anymore. The ability to stand while working is no longer a perk; it is a requirement. Don’t ask people to return to an office that is a functional downgrade to the one they have at home.
Emphasize community
What you don’t get when working from home is a sense of community that can exist in an office. Going to work is never just about the job. It is also about the lifelong connections you make with people who mean something to you. Emphasize community by reducing the toxic office politics that plague so many workplaces. Make break rooms better spaces for people to relax. And create outdoor spaces where people can walk, meet, eat a sandwich, and get to know one another.
One of the biggest improvements to team building a leader can make is to learn and implement the lessons of establishing positive relationships in the office. It is easy for a disgruntled worker to quit if there is nothing keeping them there. But if they have meaningful relationships in the office, they will be much more likely to try to work out their differences. Many home workers greatly miss the relationships they once had in the office.
Flexible technology
Not every worker wants to use a 10-year old Windows PC. Many use Macs at home. According to IBM, Macs save well over $500 per user. It actually makes sense to let people use the systems they are most comfortable using. There are other good reasons to let people use what they already know and love. Besides being more productive, there are accessibility features on the different platforms that the people who need them already know how to configure and use. Insisting on a specific platform will lock some people out of that job when it is not necessary. Let people use what they know and you will unlock their productive potential.
Not everyone is going to want to return to the office no matter what you do. But a good many of them will if you update the office furniture, emphasize community, and are flexible with regard to technology.