The Power Of Presence: Your Office Is Not A Strategy

"The real question is: what is the room for? Because if no one can answer that with specificity, your office isn't a strategy. It's a lease."

"Some leaders are acting as though physical proximity produces value on its own. It doesn't. Office occupancy in the United States is still hovering just above 50%."

"I have spent most of my career in rooms where things actually happened. Negotiations that turned on a sidebar. Alliances formed because someone caught a hesitation no email would ever reveal."

Many organizations are failing to ask the crucial question of what the office space is for in a hybrid work model. A mid-size consulting firm implemented a hybrid policy, but the rationale for in-office days was vague. Proximity does not equate to collaboration or productivity. Effective office use requires understanding the specific value of physical presence, as mere attendance does not guarantee meaningful engagement or outcomes. Current office occupancy rates suggest that many employees find remote work more valuable than commuting to an underutilized space.

Read at Forbes