Recent articles claim people are less productive when working from home. From my experience, this is far from true. But it’s not just my observations. Stanford University found a 5% productivity increase during remote work, and the University of Sydney reported similar findings. Another benefit of working from home is that the average worker saves four hours weekly by not commuting \u2013 time that they often channel back into actual work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is nothing wrong with asking employees to return to the office, as long as you can answer one question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe your answer is “We have expensive office space and we just completed an expensive fitout with collaborative spaces and meeting pods” That’s a real estate problem, not a productivity problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or maybe it’s “I’m old school. I prefer it when my staff are here in the office with me” That’s a management style problem, not a work location problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or maybe even “Our communication on projects have been pretty poor, without face-to-face meetings our projects will fail” That’s a culture and process problem, not a remote work problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I value spontaneous collaboration and problem solving, quick conversations that prevent someone from spending hours on a problem that has a simpler solution, these moments matter. They’re how teams learn and grow together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the reality is that even when I’m in the office, I predominantly work with teams that are interstate or overseas. Being physically present in an office doesn’t guarantee meaningful interaction. If your team is remote, or even local yet scattered across different floors, the spontaneous moments don’t happen, and when conversations do occur, they’re more social connection than a breakthrough moment. Talking about the latest Netflix binge in the kitchen shouldn’t be confused with productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure, virtual collaboration isn’t quite the same, but we need to adapt. Instant messaging and quick video calls might not replicate in-office conversations, but they get the job done. The key is being intentional about connecting, regardless of where people sit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What actually matters is output. How the metric of “hours in the office” is in anyway meaningful has me scratching my head. Projects succeed or fail based on budgets, timelines, and client satisfaction \u2013 not where people sit. Modern collaboration tools make physical proximity optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Base your solution on clear reasoning. Trust your team to deliver, measure what matters. Productivity follows purpose, not presence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recent articles claim people are less productive when working from home. From my experience, this is far from true. But it’s not just my observations. Stanford University found a 5% productivity increase during remote work, and the University of Sydney reported similar findings. Another benefit of working from home is that the average worker saves four hours weekly by not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Why returning to the office may not boost productivity. 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