Returning to Work(places)

Seems like the push is ramping up.

Starting in 2025, Amazon will require employees to work in person, in their office, at their assigned desk.

I’ve been watching this trend for a while. A handful of my clients have shifted to fully remote companies since the pandemic, but most have settled into hybrids. Some have kept an office building with no mandates, saying employees can come in if they want. Others have a day each month when everyone assembles. Most have weekly expectations, requiring one or two days in person. 

That’s a lot more flexibility than would have been imaginable in 2019. But it has caused anxiety for some.

Newer and younger employees, especially those who entered the workforce with remote work as a norm, experience the “return to work” as a new demand—a loss of a benefit they expected. 

That may sound a little entitled to those of us who have seen expectations relax in so many ways in the last decade. But there are tension points worth naming if you are considering a policy change. 

As I wrote about last year, working remotely can increase inclusion by removing barriers that marginalize people. Working parents gain more access, for instance. People who experience microaggressions based on their appearance, mannerisms, or cultural norms find less friction in their workday. 

But those very same people may be put at a disadvantage by working at home. They may be more likely to be left out of the social connections and relationships that—unfairly—lead to more mentorship, assignments, and promotions. 

So there’s an upside to returning: you can more naturally make the personal connections that glue a culture together. But the expectations have to be clear. If you go into work and end up on Zoom meetings with your remote colleagues all day—or if your manager is never there—you’d be justifiably annoyed.

Remote work requires managers to put in more effort and intentionality to make sure everyone has what they need to develop professionally. 

Thoughtful compromises that meet the needs of the individuals and the roles they play seem like the way to go. I’m a big fan of the weekly “anchor day”—be there at the same time as others from your team or department. 

But mandating a full return to work? I don’t know about that. I’ve worked virtually for over 20 years. I am productive and it makes my life a lot easier. I can see why folks would prefer it.

Attend To The Weeds In Your Organizational Culture

I put a lot of work into my garden early in the summer. Everything looked wonderful. Over the next month I noticed some little weeds popping up. I kept saying to myself I should take care of it, but I kept putting it off.

Now, guess what? They are everywhere. I’ve been trying to clear them but it’s so much work. And it seems like they’re growing back overnight.

Note to self: attend to problems as they arise, or they will spread. Then it will be infinitely harder to deal with them.

That lesson applies just as well to attending to inclusion in your organization. 

Someone makes an inappropriate joke; an interpersonal conflict is brewing; you’ve noticed a pattern of behavior that may be driven by bias. 

These are weeds. 

If you don’t address the issues in the moment, the offenders might feel the behavior is okay. Others might imitate it. “I guess this is what we do here.”

The people affected might lose trust. “No one has my back. Why even say anything? It won’t make a difference.”

Before long, you don’t just have incidents—you have a culture. The roots will have gone deep. Weeds will have entangled with other plants. You can’t remove them without disrupting or even damaging the garden. 

Tend your organizational culture like a gardener. Pay attention to people’s well-being, and deal with issues before they become invasive species. 

Don’t wait until you have to dig deep and rip things up.

The More Diversity, The Harder It Is

I kick off my workshop on managing diverse teams with a question:

“What do you find challenging about managing a diverse team?” 

Because while diversity makes your team stronger and more effective, it doesn’t make it easier to manage. 

When you interact with people who come from different experiences, you don’t know the impact your behavior will have on one another. You will step on people’s toes, and have your toes stepped on. If you want everyone on your diverse team to thrive, you’ll need to navigate these interpersonal differences. 

And you’ll need to learn how everyone’s differences interact with your organization’s underlying systems. 

Are the norms and policies that work best for you bumping up against what other employees need? When do you hold meetings? (Avoid kids’ drop-off time.) How do you acknowledge holidays from different cultures? (Check those staff retreat dates against the Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu calendars.) What activities do you sponsor for social time? (Not everyone drinks…and some must avoid alcohol entirely.)

You’ll ultimately need to examine every aspect of the organization. Find and fix the root causes of inequity, and reduce bias in hiring, compensation, and promotion.

Yes, it’s a lot of work. 

You can’t just do the same thing for everyone. You have to think about what individuals need. 

But here’s the thing: that’s actually what good managers do, period.

All teams are diverse. Even if it’s not racially diverse, your team contains a range of genders, religions, working styles. People need different accommodations, different types of feedback, different cultural habits. 

And when you focus on meeting all those individual needs, you begin to leverage the benefits of the diversity on your team. 

It takes practice and resilience to develop the skills to manage diverse teams.

But they happen to be the same skills you need to manage any team well.