AIBU about return to the office

[bonfireheart]

We are all currently working from home and it's been going well. We have been told by management that going forward we will be working more flexibly. We have limited desk space in the office. They are advocating a mixture of home and office working, but really leaving it up to individual teams on how they manage that- however management are very clear that they are not setting "minimum days in the office."

The options for each day are:

1. If there is a business need to be in the office that day, you can go to the office.
2. If there is no business need to be in that day but you want to go to the office of your own free choice, you can go to the office.
3. You have no business need to go in, you can work from home.

4 You have no business need to go to the office, you prefer to work from home that day, you can work from home.

The issue is people who like the second option- they have no need to go to office but like the routine of the office etc. Fine. I have no issue with them going to office for however many days if they want to. The issue is that they want to go to the office but are kicking up a fuss that if they (about 3 or 4 members of the team) go to the office nearly every day, its not fair and that the others should be made to go in too! They are being so vocal "well it's not fair that it should be the same people in the office". But you WANT to be in the office. I don't. I don't understand why I should have to go in to appease you. We have no contact with the public, there is nothing I can't do from home. If I want to come into office once a fortnight that should be fine. They are advocating some kind of rota and minimum cover. My commute is long, I can't work in our noisy open plan office...
Not sure I have explained this well because I don't get the logic at all. I am worried that these few who are so vocal are going to get their way.

YABU - I should be made to go in office eventhough I don't want to.
YABNU - I should be able to work from home if I want.

You need to be equally loudly vocal that working from home is much better for you than in the office

If you have the option to work from home (option 4) then you just quote that. Can you go back over this rota business?

If pushed can you say that your wellbeing has improved working from home as well as your productivity. Does your line manager support you or are they the problem?

Do the people who are kicking up a fuss actually have any real power to get you to go in? If management have said it's completely up to you on days when there is no business need, I can't really see what those people can do unless they're sufficiently senior to recommend to management that for some reason your team deviates from the norm?

What is the thinking behind the 10% who think you should go into the office?

It's bonkers. Of course you should WFH if that is your preference.

It's not either or.

There's personal preference about working location, and the best fit for the team for particular activities. So for example my job involves a lot of workshops which just aren't as effective if everyone is wfh. But for days when it's mostly screen - based work it's no bother if people work from home.

Who is deciding whether there is a 'busines need' to be in the office in your scenario?

Are the people kicking up a fuss 'performance' workers? Always like to be seen to be working rather than, you know, just getting on with it?

Over the years I have known a few of this type, generally lack self motivation so have to go into the office otherwise they get nothing done. There is also a correlation with not allowing headphones.

Their view is they cant work in a particular way so no one can.

There are other things to consider though.

How about new joiners? Or people entering the workplace for the first time and who therefore need to learn for colleagues. Office culture? All these things don't happen when some decide they work best from home.

It makes sense to allow flexibility where possible but also ensure that the impact to the office as a whole is considered. A healthy mix sounds like it would benefit both the employees and the employer.

The direct from senior management is very much- flexible, agile, modern.
Issue is that my own line manager is weak and hates difficult conversations so will give in to the larger majority.
@GnomeDePlume yes people who think unless you're stuck to your desk and seen, you're not working. Whereas I am much more flexible in my approach - and its not affected my performance, rather I've been promoted twice in 5 years.
@Palavah 'business need' basically means meetings that for whatever reason cannot be done at home eg sometimes an initial meeting with a stakeholder might be face to face. But nothing major.
We have another whole team meeting about it soon to agree way forward. Can't decided whether to stay silent and then do my own thing anyway (they can't physically pick me up and bring me to the office!) Or to speak up at the meeting and cause a ruckus. It's very very likely that I will be promoted again soon and have to line manage some of these people so trying to think of how I can play it - ie you want to come in, great, I support you and hope it is effective for you whilst also recognising that others work differently?

Sounds like they are being petty little dicks tbh.

Surely that’s for management to sort out. I wouldn’t get involved and would just follow the guidelines as they have been set out.

@Dogsandbabies we've had lots of new starters over the last year and tbh they're handling it better than longer term employers. Plus we would still have whole team meetings in the office, training days, team drinks out etc.

Does the system only work if enough people take the option to be in though?

We keep hearing an awful lot from the people whon like it about how successful home working is but my experience as a customer of organisations doing it is quite the opposite.

The people in the office will be doing the lion's share of supporting new staff, for example. Or maybe they're just making a fuss, in which case, let them, safe in the knowledge that you're doing what's right. Why is their fuss of concern to you?

If nothing needs to be done in the office, what exactly do they think 'cover' is required for? Are they using this as an opportunity to stab a few people in the back and imply that the people WFH are slacking?

I think they're being ridiculous complaining that it's "not fair" - they sound like toddlers!

However...we have been struggling with the same issue at work, in that 100% of those of us at a more senior level would be quite happy to never go back into the office with our nice big spaces at home and gardens and long commutes. Our juniors tend to have smaller living spaces and are very keen to get back into the office and also get facetime with senior management without having to book a zoom call. There are junior team members who have joined in the last year who I have never even met, so I'm feeling pretty guilty about that and know it's not healthy, even though I'm not looking forward to commuting again.

We've all been working from home extremely efficiently for a year now, but what we're probably going to end up with is Mon/Fri everyone from home (even juniors), Tues/Weds/Thurs everyone in the office (even senior management). That way, we don't end up with an A team at home and B team in the office, and we also don't end up with people with longer commutes trekking in to find that no one is actually in the office when they get there so they sit on zoom all day in the office instead of doing it from home.

If you genuinely can do every single aspect of your job just as well at home YANBU

if there are any aspects that you have to ask your office working colleagues to do for you then YABU

I choose to work from the office as do a small number of colleagues. Everyone I know who chooses to fully WFH things they’re super efficient but there are multiple things they have to get people in the office to do for them, taking time out of our day and our own work.

We've dealt with huge projects whilst WFH and there's been no difference to service. The way our team is set up not anyone can train new starters so wouldn't fall to them at all.
I really think some of them are martyrs, like they want to moan about their commute, moan about their meetings, moan about their emails...and now if they can moan about going to the office it makes it sound like they're going through hardship for the good of the team, when they really don't have to!

If there's limited desks, how does it work if all these desperate to be seen people are always using the desks and someone else needs to be in for a 'business need' and there's no space? Surely that's something management needs to consider?

Were you a really shit employer before Covid? I’d be really unimpressed if you told me you couldn’t work in a noisy open plan office, so I’d keep that one to yourself!

Otherwise - stand your ground.

@Dogsandbabies

There are other things to consider though.

How about new joiners? Or people entering the workplace for the first time and who therefore need to learn for colleagues. Office culture? All these things don't happen when some decide they work best from home.

It makes sense to allow flexibility where possible but also ensure that the impact to the office as a whole is considered. A healthy mix sounds like it would benefit both the employees and the employer.

This really. My workplace is going along the same lines re flexible working. I have a long commute and am a single parent so WFH does suit me BUT I have also been feeling increasingly isolated and don't have the luxury of a home office (working at my kitchen table).

For these reasons, my preference is to WFH 3 days a week and go into the office 2 days a week. I can't control what other colleagues do under this system but I have vocalised when asked that we at least all go into the office for a Team meeting once every month or so as I have never met most of my colleagues due to internal changes during lockdown (which has been hard).

Whilst WFH has suited many people over the last year, we shouldn't forget or dismiss those who is hasn't suited and who are struggling with the imposed changes when they probably never signed up for a job that was 100% WFH.

I think working from home is better personally. If people want to go in, fine go ahead, but don't drag me in with you just because you can't handle change.

I often find the ones that want back in are the ones that bugger off to make coffee every hour or smoke and it seems to take them forever to do it. Guess now they are at home they have no one to chat to and slack off.

I can do my job well from home, no issues. Great broadband, I have a place to work at, and there's no need for me to be in the office, I don't see customers face to face. There's only one person on the team who wants everyone back in and he can give no reason for that. We aren't all even in the same location, we are spread out across the country, so we will still be using teams to talk to each other. He's actually one of the ones that slacks off funnily enough.

Ask them to do a risk assessment to see if there is a minimum number of people needed in the office for H&S reasons. If not then they need a proper business case as to why they want minimum office staffing levels, including whether there is additional costs to the business. I'd keep it very very matter of fact, shut down any comments about whether they would just prefer their colleagues to come in with a "we can look at how to support your wellbeing in individual meetings" so it's clear the issue is theirs, not the wider teams.

My employer has a really flexible approach.

1. If you need to go into the office for a business reason, you go.
2. If you want to go into the office because you prefer it, you can if there's space.
3. If you don't want to go into the office, you don't have to.
4. You may be required to go into the office for training, meetings, but this will still be done via Zoom/Google Meets where possible.

Not only have staff saved loads of money in travelling costs, but the organisation has saved loads, too. And I no longer have to spend half my working day in my car, so can get twice as much done. (Which is lucky, because my caseload has nearly doubled!)

As a leader there's no way I could be staying at hone while my team are in the office, it just wouldn't feel right on the basis that you don't ask of others what you're not prepared to do yourself. I wfh sometimes to get some work done in peace, but on the whole IMO management need to be in to manage, if the staff are. Is this why you're finding the criticism difficult, because you really know you should be there?

I can do my job well from home, no issues. Great broadband, I have a place to work at, and there's no need for me to be in the office, I don't see customers face to face.

This is my point though...YOU have a place to work and work well from home but not everyone is in the same position. Those who are working from kitchen tables, which then have to be cleared every evening to eat at (like me), those who house share and perhaps don't even have that, those who live alone and whose mental health might be struggling as a result of isolation over the past year. I know people who all of the above applies to and I wish others would have a little empathy for those in a different position to themselves. Surely compromise is the best way.

There is a guy like that at my work. He hates wfh and has really struggled so he has been allowed to work from the office throughout. Except it's not actually the physical location that is the problem,he likes working in company so he wont be happy until everyone is in the office which isnt going to happen. I feel a bit sorry for him because he didnt choose for the ways of working to change but actually the flexibility benefits so many others.

You just need to be equally loud about how appreciative you are of the flexibility. Their preference doesnt trump yours.