Why Return to the Office? Reasons & Benefits

Why Return to the Office? Reasons & Benefits

As more and more people are coming under vaccination globally, many organizations are considering a return to the office. But the question is why we should return to office again? If we can do the same work from home, isn't it better to Work From Home (WFH) forever? As we have already passed more than 1 year and we have become (half) accustomed to working from home, by now we surely have some answers. This post will explore the reasons behind Returning to Office:

1. OFFICE PROVIDES MORE FOCUS: Someone may find the point counter-intuitive. But to justify it, offices are meant for office work. On the other hand, home is made not for this sole purpose. In home we relax, we do our family chores, and have other commitments. This list just enlarges when we add office work into it. Studies on brain also revealed that environmental cues such as a park, a busy station, and office etc. can trigger the brain to jump to a more focused state. That is probably why from a very recent survey between January-February 2021, Seyfarth at Work found that 42% employees miss their workplace for having a regular structure.
2. OFFICE INCREASES WORK-LIFE BALANCE: Before the pandemic it was largely believed that work from home increases the work-life balance. Maybe it was true when working from home was an occasional phenomenon. But as we adopted (read: were forced to adopt) a full work from home strategy to combat the pandemic, it goes the other way. We saw more and more employees becoming victim of the so-called pandemic burnout. Global employment website Monster's poll suggested that 69% of employees working from home are experiencing symptoms of burnout.
3. OFFICE FOSTERS BETTER COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATION: There are many issues with work from home. Among them a major one is overwhelm of communication. Study by The Institute of Leadership and Management found 83% citing that they are overwhelmed by email. On the other hand, in office the default means of communication is face-to-face which fosters better collaboration and communication as it is our second nature. Video meetings are not like that. In fact the opposite, as a joint study by University of California and University of Cambridge revealed no impact on employee well-being resulting from frequency of video calls. If this is the case, how work from home can foster better communication and collaboration?
4. OFFICE DECREASES EMPLOYEE LONELINESS: In the Seyfarth survey mentioned earlier, it was stated that 42% employees miss their workplace for having a regular structure. Yet that was not the top thing that employees miss most. In fact, 61% of the respondents said in-person and "grown-up" workplace conversation they miss most. This result is an eye-opener that office can even decrease employee loneliness to some extent.

Personally I also prefer office work, and believe we have a long way to go before a full work from home transformation can occur. Please explain your preferences with a reaction.
Sources:
Wrike, "What Is Return to Work and Why Is It So Important to Get Right?"
Poll results from work in the time of coronavirus, Monster
Towner, E., Ladensack, D., Chu, K., Callaghan, B., "Welcome to My Zoom Party - Virtual Social Interaction, Loneliness, and Well-Being Among Emerging Adults Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic"

		Comments Sort by date Sort by rating Rating
		7 Richard b. Martin Project Manager, United States
	Why NOT to Return to the Office In my view, there are also good reasons to keep on working from home: Seems that overall product... Sign up

		7 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	No One Right Workplace Balance For every study finding 'A' another will find 'B'. Consider: There is no one right workplace set u... Sign up

		2 Ronald Chan Chua Student (University), Philippines
	My Two Cents for not Returning to Office I hate having to deal with traffic conditions. It's more convenient to move around nowadays because ... Sign up

		7 Anonymous
	Hybrid Office/Home Model I believe a hybrid model involving a balance between work from home and the office is required. We ... Sign up

		1 Scott Xe Manager, Hong Kong
	What are the Returns to the Employers? @Ronald Chan Chua: Will you appreciate your employer for the saving you have of transport time as an... Sign up

		3 Anonymous
	Why Return to the Office. Reasons In my view, it depends on the nature of each company. Since the lockdown we have been going to the o... Sign up

		3 PATRIK MARIEN Consultant, Belgium
	Why Return to Office I think that working from home, without being equipped for it, is definitely not okay. Remote workin... Sign up

		1 Yamileth Gutierrez Couder Student (MBA), Mexico
	Come Back to the Office, Maybe Good morning, it is very interesting information that you present. I live in Mexico and from my per... Sign up

		2 Ronald Chan Chua Student (University), Philippines
	Another Opinion on Returning to Office @Scott Xe: Hi Scott. Here in the Philippines, we have transportation allowance as part of our benefi... Sign up

		3 Sawlani Vinod Consultant, France
	Return to Office Here's my two cents on this topic, I work as business coach in a business school in the South of Fra... Sign up

		2 Mwendwa Musyoka Project Manager, Kenya
	Not All are Prepared for WFH While WFH may well be the working mode of the future, I think propagating this as a full-scale work ... Sign up

		2 Peter Weber Project Manager, Switzerland
	One Solution Does not Fit for All For many companies, work from anywhere worked very well. But not for every employee. Funny enough se... Sign up

		2 Anonymous
	Reasons to Return to the Office I believe the office is a better place to work for better productivity, efficiency and to be focused... Sign up

		4 Munadil Shafat Student (MBA), Bangladesh
	Return to Work versus Return to Office Thanks all for your participation and valuable contribution on this topic. Recently I saw most news... Sign up

		1 Ronald Chan Chua Student (University), Philippines
	Electric Bill Issue in Work from Home @Sawlani Vinod: We encountered this at work too. But our government has dictated that those who work... Sign up

		2 Richard b. Martin Project Manager, United States
	Yes, the Topic Should be Return to the Office @Munadil Shafat: Definitely agree. Work is work, regardless where it is performed. The whole idea of... Sign up

		2 Prince T Chiraswa Student (University), Zimbabwe
	Returning to Office for Family Reasons @Anonymous: The working environment at office can be more conducive to actually work than working fr... Sign up

		1 Sawlani Vinod Consultant, France
	Allowance for Electricticity in WFH @Ronald Chan Chua: Hi, unfortunately not, nothing like this in France, at least not in the private s... Sign up

		1 david Student (Other), Colombia
	Commuting is the Main Issue with Returning to the Office I partially agree offices are good. Especially conceptually, an office is a place where a bunch of p... Sign up

		2 Alexey Timoshek Russian Federation
	Home Against Office I vote for the office, unless the employer decided to seriously cut renting costs... Working at home... Sign up

		3 Anonymous
	Home versus Office - Home Wins (for Me) Everyone I work with is in a different country, so I connect and collaborate virtually no matter whe... Sign up

		2 John Henry Project Manager, United States
	Why Work in a Location Remote from your Home Office? Point 1 above, if 42% miss the office, mathematically 58% do not, correct? If I were a business man,... Sign up

		1 Ger de Waard Management Consultant, Netherlands
	WFH is the Ideal World WFH is the ideal world. If the home office is well equipped and secure (internet), and a system is i... Sign up 18-9-2023