What Makes You Thrive?
Do you thrive better by getting out of the house and going to an office, or are you just fine working from home? It sounds as if the staff’s happy with a hybrid work arrangement.
What Do Your Clients Expect?
Do they feel most comfortable in face-to-face meetings, or would they prefer meeting over Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or another service of that ilk? It varies with every business. One colleague of mine in financial services has a clientele that appreciates face-to-face meetings, at least at the start of the relationship. Sometimes, after they’ve been working together for a while, it might be via video call part of the time, or even all of the time (his clientele is older and sometimes has health issues precluding in-office visits.) Another colleague in the same industry works almost exclusively virtually, with clients who appreciate the efficiency of video calls, and his revenues are at an all-time high.
When you hear about big companies insisting on returning to an office full-time, or nearly full-time, there are usually political reasons lurking in the background, such as relationships (or investments) with commercial real estate organizations. Returning to an office nearly full-time might also be a political issue, such as a large downtown company responding to pressure from the local government (which needs office workers stimulating the local economy by buying meals, commuting, and using other services near the office.) Recently in Philadelphia, the mayor has ordered top officials in the government to work full-time from their city offices—primarily for the optics, since the city’s lost a lot of revenue from people who no longer work in town five days a week.
However, as soon as you hear someone talking about the incredible improvement in productivity from a fully in-office staff, be very, very skeptical, especially with anecdotal examples. Recently the University of Pittsburgh published a study showing that there was about zero benefit in productivity by working full-time in an office, though a directive to do so alienated workers (and increased turnover, particularly of the most effective employees.)
Jim Shulman
Elsinore Business Associates
www.elsinoreba.com
jims@jimText/Cell 610 908 9087
“Entrepreneurship is a chronic condition. It cannot be cured, but it can be treated successfully.” Jim Shulman
