Kim Neeson is a coach/consultant specializing in gender diversity, women leadership & creating the Office 2.0 @ Kim Neeson Consultancy.

Here we are in the summer of 2022 and getting teams back on track is one of the biggest challenges facing companies today. Some companies are mandating that everyone come back. Some are staying fully remote. And still others are working through hybrid models, where management and employees attend the office two or three days a week and then work from home the remaining time. What will the office of 2022/23 look like? Where will all the pieces finally land?

The key reasons for resistance to returning to work—and resignation—are numerous and include:

Statistics abound regarding how many people are working from home versus in the office and how many people have, or would, resign if forced to return to the office (the youngest demographic between the ages of 18 to 24 is at the highest risk). The Great Resignation isn’t fake news.

So how do you begin to bridge the gap between the pre- and post-pandemic office?

According to a Gallup survey, 53% of workers expect a hybrid arrangement, while 24% expect remote work exclusively. Based on those statistics alone (and there are lots more out there), offering the flexibility of a combined in-office/work-from-home experience appears to be the favored return-to-work model. Even when you offer this option, you may find resistance from some employees (and this includes management).

To entice people back, create an office environment that is more like a destination, a place people want to go not just for work, but for the social and team experience, too. For example:

• Create a special day designed to celebrate getting together again, and make it special! It may include a cake, balloons, prizes, a catered lunch, team-building games—whatever it includes, it needs to be fun and enticing.

• Hire a coach to help get the team back together. With a coach’s expertise, members of your team can deal with their anxiety and fears about coming back to the office, and you can create team experiences that remind people why the office does have its benefits.

• Talk to your team in person. As head of the company, set the tone. Place trust in your group that if someone has to leave early for a personal reason, they’re not going to get the evil eye; show compassion, that you understand how difficult this is for some and that you’re open to learning how to make the office, or that person’s position, function more smoothly for them (and you); engage in in-person check-ins, which shows empathy and compassion to your team members.

• Consider creating a business that is more goal-oriented and outcome-based. Given that people have worked from home autonomously for more than two years, being open to maintaining some flexibility and work/life balance is going to be a key factor for retention now and into the future. By setting outcomes and goals, a team will know exactly what is expected of them and when.

• Retrain managers to work within the outcome-based goals. An example of this would be collaborating with the team to create a model: when to meet in person or online, metrics for completion of tasks, tracking of tasks completed, etc. In other words, the manager isn’t micromanaging the process but looking at it more holistically and allowing team members to work more independently with measurable outcomes.

These are but a few ideas of how to create the post-pandemic office of 2022 and beyond. It’s truly amazing what technology has allowed many of us to do from home, but the importance of face-to-face human connection cannot be understated, and some people need to re-experience the in-person feeling.

Teams need to interact in meaningful ways. Companies need to create culture, energy and enthusiasm for their work. Working to find new talent and retain employees and managers has never been at such a flexion point before. The opportunity now exists to create a new era of how we work.

Don’t be afraid to be creative and open and, most of all, to ask for help if you need it. This is a brave new world, and Office 2.0 is being created in real time.

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