So Your Team Is Back in the Office. Now What?

"This applies not simply to customers, clients, partners and other visitors, but-even more importantly-to your own team members as well. In addition to being offered a good reason and a compelling explanation as to why they need to be physically in the office to get their jobs done, your employees need to find an active and alive operation going on and a powerful and positive environment rather than the quasi-morgues and silent shells which too many offices have become."

"To be clear, there are plenty of good reasons why the troops (especially the younger employees) should be present more often than not. You simply can't build a sustainable culture or a committed community online and you can't replicate the serendipitous collisions, watercooler conversations, and other synergies that are a crucial part of the day-to-day activities, and which form a significant and informal portion of any organization's internal communication channels."

As remote work grows to millions, in-office interactions must be meaningful and effective. Presence in the office should include an active operation and a powerful, positive environment rather than quiet, half-empty spaces. Employees need clear reasons and compelling explanations for being physically present to accomplish work. Building sustainable culture and committed community cannot be done solely online; serendipitous collisions, watercooler conversations, and informal synergies arise from physical proximity. Video calls and teleconferences convey facts but remain sterile and lack emotional connection and empathetic communication. Overreliance on remote meetings can distance people and undermine culture and morale.

Read at Inc