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Will We Return to Offices or Continue to Work from Home?

Will We Return to Offices or Continue to Work from Home?

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During the pandemic, I’ve followed a number of articles and papers that discuss the potential impact if companies/institutions allow a substantial portion of their workers to continue to work from home. Among the suggested outcomes are that demand for commercial office space will shrink and people will move out of the cities since commuting time is no longer an issue.

In an article recently published in the Boston Globe, author Jon Levy makes a great argument explaining why the hybrid work environment probably won’t last and that everyone will eventually go back to the office. Mr. Levy, author of You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence, provides four reasons why people will return to the office instead of working from home. These reasons are:

1. The Allen CurveMIT professor Thomas Allen conducted an experiment in the 1970s, measuring communication between people in an office as it related to the proximity of their desks. The closer the desks were between workers, the more communication increased exponentially. Levy writes that “remote work may be fine if you are a freelancer hired for a specific job or if you are a salesperson in the field, but in the hybrid office where some people are in-person and others are remote, working from home has serious implications for being recognized and appreciated and getting bonuses and promotions.”

2. Trust – According to Mr. Levy, workers separated by distance need higher levels of trust to function. Normally, trust is created through in-person interaction. Behavioral scientists have identified trust-related dynamics such as “the vulnerability loop,” where people trust each other more by demonstrating vulnerability and revealing vulnerability in return. These behaviors occur face-to-face as part of the sidebars between meetings.

Increasing trust at a distance requires substantial planning such as games or competitions, organized for team members to invest effort in one another beyond Zoom calls and emails. Over the long run, those who work together in person will bond more strongly than those at a distance. Mr. Levy observes that a two-class system — those who work at the office and those who work from home — may be corrosive to a sense of trust.

3. Working from Home Can Be Too Convenient – Having commuting time allows our minds to wander and explore ideas, notes Mr. Levy. Commuting time gives us time to process information, plan a discussion with the boss, or replay conversations from meetings that day. While remote workers can also plan breaks, many are not good at establishing boundaries on their time that will enable their minds to explore fresh ideas.

4. Belonging – Humans are not designed to be alone. We evolved in communities and survived because we worked together. Companies that manage to create the greatest sense of belonging are those types of organizations where people stay employed there for years. It’s hard to create a sense of community among people who work from home and even harder when employees have been hired remotely and may never have met the team in person. Mr. Levy suggests that it is so difficult to create a well-functioning workforce at a distance that it will be better for companies and employees to return to the workforce when it is safe to do so.

I have not read Mr. Levy’s new book, but I agree with many of his points. Spending much of the past year working from home but occasionally visiting offices (safely) to meet with someone, I winced at the absence of people and activities normally associated with a vibrant workplace.

As much as I was not a fan of commuting, it did allow me time to reflect on events from the day as well as plan for the day ahead. Sometimes it gave me the time I needed to talk with a colleague about an issue or speak to a trusted Board member or outside advisor.

I can envision a future where companies allow employees to work from home a day or two a week, but if I were an employee with a goal of achieving promotions and more responsibility, I’d choose the office. If I were the boss looking for a way to persuade people to return to the office, I’d send them Mr. Levy’s article.

Wally Boston Dr. Wallace E. Boston was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of American Public University System (APUS) and its parent company, American Public Education, Inc. (APEI) in July 2004. He joined APUS as its Executive Vice President in 2002. In September 2019, Dr. Boston retired as CEO of APEI and retired as APUS President in August 2020. Dr. Boston guided APUS through its successful initial accreditation with the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association in 2006 and ten-year reaccreditation in 2011. In November 2007, he led APEI to an initial public offering on the NASDAQ Exchange. For four years from 2009 through 2012, APEI was ranked in Forbes' Top 10 list of America's Best Small Public Companies. During his tenure as president, APUS grew to over 85,000 students, 200 degree and certificate programs, and approximately 100,000 alumni. While serving as APEI CEO and APUS President, Dr. Boston was a board member of APEI, APUS, Hondros College of Nursing, and Fidelis, Inc. Dr. Boston was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity by the U.S. Secretary of Education in 2019. He also serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), as a Trustee of The American College of Financial Services, as a member of the board of Our Community Salutes - USA, and as a member and chair of the board of New Horizons Worldwide. He has authored and co-authored papers on the topic of online post-secondary student retention, and is a frequent speaker on the impact of technology on higher education. Dr. Boston is a past Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the McDonogh School, a private K-12 school in Baltimore. In his career prior to APEI and APUS, Dr. Boston served as either CFO, COO, or CEO of Meridian Healthcare, Manor Healthcare, Neighborcare Pharmacies, and Sun Healthcare Group. Dr. Boston is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, and Chartered Global Management Accountant. He earned an A.B. degree in History from Duke University, an MBA in Marketing and Accounting from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business Administration, and a Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. In 2008, the Board of Trustees of APUS awarded him a Doctorate in Business Administration, honoris causa, and, in April 2017, also bestowed him with the title President Emeritus. In August 2020, the Board of Trustees of APUS appointed him Trustee Emeritus. In November 2020, the Board of Trustees announced that the APUS School of Business would be renamed the Dr. Wallace E Boston School of Business in recognition of Dr. Boston's service to the university. Dr. Boston lives with his family in Austin, Texas.

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