Creating the Virtual Office Space

Why are some companies sending people back to physical offices?

On a Tuesday afternoon an employee was met at the supermarket:  "Don't worry," they said, "I'm working from home" (in air quotes).

Another colleague explained to me the trouble they were having fixing their car while working from home.

Quite often I've had people tell me during work hours that they can't meet because they are taking care of their kids.  "Sorry, I'm at the park with my son.  Can we talk tomorrow?"

My wife said she heard a baby crying when speaking with customer support of her bank.

For these reasons and many more, companies around the world are abandoning their remote work policies and are bringing people back to the office.  This trend is a disaster.  

Why is remote working better?

I myself have been working remotely since 2015.  There is little I do for work that requires physical contact with anything but my keyboard and my coffee cup.  I save 5-10 hours per week by avoiding the daily commute.  I avoid the distractions of office life.  I focus on my job, and I definitely am more productive than I was working in an office.

I also work with people from around the world.  About 50% of our team (including myself) work and live far from any office owned by our company.  It would not be possible to bring us all together into one physical space without incredible expense and inconvenience.  If we were to replace this team with people closer to our company's geographic location, the annual cost of our product would increase by 2-3x and quality would go down.  There just aren't enough quality engineers our company's region.

There are many societal benefits to having a remote workforce, as well.    Wealth is spread across the globe instead of being amassed in certain locations.  Avoiding the daily commute means reducing greenhouse gases. The roads are left open for people who actually do need to move physically (like delivery trucks, for example).  Infrastructure requires less maintenance due to reduced usage.  And local businesses where people live are supported, further reducing transportation needs to centralized hubs.  The daily commute for knowledge workers should be a thing of the past.

The Virtual Office

For companies that are not getting what they need out of a remote workforce, there are steps they can take without bringing everyone back to the office.  I propose virtual office spaces for daily interactions using existing technology.  Create an all-day meeting with your online meeting tool, and have everyone join.  It's like everyone coming to the office to work in cubicles but without the commute.  

It's simple.  My home is my remote cubicle, and I am connected to everyone in my office virtually during the entire workday.  Everyone is online all the time and available simply by unmuting.

Meeting rooms are breakout rooms in the software.  You can find anyone with the touch of a button.  Calendars should be open to increase transparency.  Spontaneous interactions between people in these virtual offices will increase, since people never leave the software.  If you need to be away from your desk for more than 20 minutes, your calendar should reflect where you are.

For companies that do not trust their employees, they can require cameras to be on.  Cameras should always be on for meetings regardless, but companies that mistrust their workers can require them to have their cameras on all the time to increase transparency.  (I hope I never work at this place, but I would rather work there than in a physical office.)  For people who are not comfortable with this, they can chose to come to the office.

Transparency is the key to this configuration.  Efficiency and a sense of community should be the result.

Create a Joyful Experience

Rather than bring employees back to the physical office,  offer them this alternative:  a Virtual Office Space.  People can continue to work from home, and companies can have higher confidence that their employees are focused on work (not at the supermarket, the playground, or bowling).  The key is to get everyone connected 100% of the workday, rather than make them physically sit next to one another.  This can and should be a viable alternative to traveling to a physical office.

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