BLT #8 | The REAL issue behind the Remote Work debate

You've seen the headlines: In-office mandates are on the upswing and most folks aren't stoked. But the issue isn't actually about being in-office or not. It's much more nuanced than that.

WE BELIEVE:

"In Office Mandates" are symptoms of other issues

The conversation about remote vs. in-office work has been massively over simplified. We believe that employees and employers need to do a better job articulating the real needs beneath the request.

Here's a few examples:

An employer says: "You need to come back to the office 3 days a week."
What they might really mean: "We're not delivering the results we need as a team, and we think that more regular face to face time might help keep us all aligned. We're going to try coming back to the office 3 days a week as a potential solution."

An employee says: "I'd like to be able to work remotely."
What they might really mean: "I'm in an transition period with my child care and need to be home for an hour or so mid-day while my kid doesn't have alternative care. Given that my commute is ~40 minutes in each direction, I'm not sure it makes sense for me to come into the office knowing I have to head back home mid-day."

An employer says: "If you don't come back into the office, you won't be eligible for a promotion."
What they might really mean: "We're not quite where we need to be from a culture perspective; we're feeling like the teams aren't fully engaged and folks aren't as aligned to the mission as we want them to be. Given cultural/team leadership is one of our core leadership pillars, we're asking that anyone who wants to be considered for a promotion to please come into the office 3-4 days a week. We believe that being present in person will be the most effective way for someone to effectively step into a bigger role, leadership or otherwise."

In all cases, coming to the office or working remote isn't the actual need. There's an underlying issue at hand that needs to be articulated first.

SOMETHING WE LOVE:

"A problem named is a problem solved."

- Susan Scott, author of "Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time"

YOU SHOULD TRY THIS:

Start the conversation with questions, not solutions

Next time your manager or leader tries to tell you that you need to be in the office a certain number of days per week, use this script to start a conversation:

"Hey. I hear you loud and clear about your wanting the team to come into the office X days per week. I'm wondering if we can have a conversation about this. I'd love to better understand what problem you're trying to solve by having us back in the building and potentially brainstorm some ideas on other ways we could solve that issue. I'm definitely curious to know the underlying issue you're seeing and want to help figure out how we can fix it."

Remember: it's unlikely you'll get exactly what you want in this first conversation. The goal here is to simply begin a dialogue about what the underlying issue might be, and demonstrate that you want to help solve that problem. Listen intently, and don't jump straight to conclusions or solutions; doing so can put your manger or leader in defense mode.

Hungry for more?
We dive deep in this week's podcast and share more strategies on how you can more effectively ask for what you want and need at work.