It wasn’t long ago that having the option to work from your living room in your slippers sounded like a futuristic dream bordering on utopia.
But here we are, almost on the threshold of a far-reaching revolution, and I’m watching a line of business leaders retreat viciously toward old-fashioned “bumps in the seats.” Or, as I like to call it: “The Return of the Status Quo.” I apologize while I yawn. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my decade-plus of beating the proverbial drum about the virtues of working from home, it’s that the naysayers are more often led by something about control (and a touch of dishonesty) than reality. business idea.
Let’s be clear: I’ve been selling the work-from-anywhere mantra since 2011, if not earlier—my piece in Business Matters five years ago, “Working from Home Can Boost Positivity, Productivity, and Profitability,” should be taken to heart. all forward thinking employers. At that moment, I remember the world patting me on the head and saying, “Yes, honey, great idea,” while I checked that no one was playing solitaire in the back corner of the office. It was like telling a Victorian mother that she planned to feed her precious son vegetable sausages. Fear. Uncertainty. A small fear that everything we knew about business life was about to crumble into chaos.
Fast forward a few years—well, more than a few—and we’ve all seen exactly how useful working anywhere can be. There are very few excuses for old attitudes now. Technology has made it ridiculously easy, cheap, and flexible to replicate all the necessary workplace tasks without dragging your bleary-eyed body on a crowded train. Of course, that doesn’t mean the standard HQ is pointless. Some people really like the camaraderie and design of a shared environment. But to insist that it is the only way? That’s like refusing to let your kids have a smartphone because you think the corporate pigeons did it all those years ago.
One of the earliest arguments I remember making, in an episode of Business Matters titled “Bodies & Bums Cost Money, Can Go Virtual,” was that paying for an army of nine-to-five chairs is expensive and, frankly, useless. in the present time. You want housing, electricity, a toilet—and why? A chance to watch Sandra from the now-defunct accounting genre in real time? The daily chat over the coffee machine about last night’s telly? I don’t disagree with Sandra’s interesting discussion, but let’s be honest: a good Zoom or Group meeting can bring the same game, minus the rewarding commute. If you want to encourage human interaction, plan a weekly or one nice off-site meeting a month. But making it mandatory every day sounds as old as a carbon copy receipt.
And yet, that’s exactly what most companies are doing, by pressing the big red “Reverse” button to go forward by telling everyone to go back under the fluorescent light, tied to their desks again. We hear the same idea, of burnout: “productivity is slipping,” or “team spirit is lost,” or (my personal favorite) “people can’t be trusted to do their work from home.” Let’s get rid of those, shall we?
First, productivity. It’s surprising how often remote workers end up working long hours simply because they don’t have to endure the pain of commuting. The feature that people can set their own schedules, do their best work when they’re awake, and take breaks that don’t involve the obligatory small talk in the kitchen. That is not laziness; it is quite the opposite. People who aren’t locked into the 9-to-5 schedule often find a sweet outlet that matches their natural rhythm. And guess what? That usually means more deliveries, not fewer.
Second, the myth of team spirit. As if the only thing that binds employees together is the ability to physically see each other in an open plan environment. Team spirit comes from shared goals, supportive leadership, and clear communication—not the faint smell of ground curry and the pitter-patter of busy typing. Anyone who’s spent more than a week in a Zoom-based collaboration will know that there’s a real friendship that grows when you work together toward common goals, even if you’re in different zip codes. And if you ever miss hugging your partner in person, you can meet up once every two weeks or a month to get that big warm hug—no harm done.
Finally, the issue of trust is perhaps the most confusing of all. Why hire people you don’t trust, and arrange to take care of them from nine to five in the office? If your business model depends on eagle-eyed managers hawk-scanning slack employees, something is rotten in the process. Good employees get the job done. Elites will do better if they are given the freedom to shape how they work. Micromanagement, in contrast, breeds resentment and stifles creativity. We have a name for that, and it starts with “toxic”.
At the end of the day, businesses pushing a strict back-to-office mandate are not only ignoring the past decade of evidence that remote work is beneficial; they investigate the V sign to the future. People have shown that they can produce more, moderate, and, most importantly, effective content from places that suit them — be it a home office, a beach hut in Cornwall, or a Wi-Fi cafe in the mountains. I am not saying that offices should be abolished. I suggest it should be an option, not an obligation. A tool, not a trap.
So, yes, I consider the “office recovery” crew to be as misguided as dial-up Internet evangelists—they’re clinging to the comfortable frustrations of the old ways rather than moving forward with the new. We can do better than that. In fact, we already have. The argument against remote work made some sense back in the ’80s, but in the 21st century, it’s about as convenient as a Filofax. And if you ask me, long may that mean nothing.
So let’s collectively collect this retrograde idea from the head. A flexible approach allows businesses to hire the best, retain the best, and get the best out of them. Insisting on the old “bodies in the building” model is short-sighted, blinkered, and will inevitably lead to a mass exodus of talented people who know they can work just as well—or more—at home. After more than a decade of fighting for this cause, I will say this much to those behind: the real, progressive businesses of this century will value results, not dealing with time. And everyone else? They will be left standing with their chairs rocking, wondering what went wrong.
