Strategies and Practical Tactics to Make the Back-to-Office Transition Work for You and Your Teams
How engineering managers can support the work and lives of the individuals on their teams by implementing flexible return-to-office policies, in a collaborative and transparent manner.
Welcome to the Captain’s Codebook newsletter. I'm Ilija Eftimov, an engineering manager at Stripe. Each week (or so) I write a newsletter article on tech industry careers, practical leadership advice and management how-tos.
The naïve optimist and the cynic
According to recent polls, around 90% of companies will introduce a return-to-office policy by the end of '24'. The in-office 5-day work week is gone for good. Still, companies are betting on a "couple of days in the office" policy.
The cynic in me wonders how a return-to-office (RTO) policy is justified in the age of Nvidia - a fully remote company - being now worth as much as the entire Chinese stock market. Still, the naïve optimist in me believes that there are still some benefits from a hybrid working model, where employees go 2 to 3 days per week in the office and work from home the remaining days.
To be clear, an experienced software engineer can do their best work from their home office. No question. The same applies to the office. Yet, early-career engineers or newcomers to a company can benefit from being around more experienced and well-established engineers in the office. That's where the office outmatches the home office, I would wager.
I decided to document some practical tips and tactics that I've picked up on how to navigate a back-to-the-office situation. Who knows, you or your team might end up in a similar situation soon. Here's what I will be talking about:
How to make the RTO policy your own
Why and how the team should own the implementation
How to define guiding principles, with examples
How to set in-office days and core working hours
Localizing core hours and thinking about "satellite" offices
How to recognize and appreciate folks who follow the new policy
How to continue to strengthen the bond virtually
Let's dive in!
Make it your own
Going back to the office is a deal-breaker for some of us. And that's fine. After all, it's a job, and people can choose their employer freely. For the rest of us who will remain around and give this whole RTO thing a shot, I think there's a new mindset here that we need to adopt. RTO is happening, whether we like it or not. But, instead of letting RTO "happen to us", we ought to make it work best for our teams.
By the looks of it, most companies will go to a hybrid mode - in one work week, the employee will be present a couple of days in the office, and the rest of the days, they'd work from home. The good news are right there: when there's flexibility, there's room to make the policy implementation work for my team. Instead of against us.
So, I've learned that we shouldn't just implement policies as they come. Engineering manager should make a sensible decision on how to apply the policy to their team. It's about putting the new policy's true spirit into practice. While we can't influence our companies on whether a hybrid model is the right thing, we can influence how we implement the policy within the guidelines of the policy.
So, the question is: how do we, through creative ways, make this change of policy work for the team and ourselves?
Team owns the policy implementation
Assuming that there's flexibility in the in-office days, the team should be involved hands-on in defining the team's implementation of the new policy. While the policy defines the minimum number of days in the office, it's on the team to define how this will play out - and to commit to it once the plan is in place.
So, I believe that the team must own the implementation. If it came from "above," it would create even more resentment regarding the policy change. The team must voice feedback to shape the hybrid work policy implementation, clarifying that the team's input has influenced the final implementation of the policy. After all, the implementation of the policy is what affects the team every working day.
Establish guiding principles
Companies usually want to encourage collaboration between folks earlier in their careers and those at later stages. They also want newcomers to interact with people who embody the company's values and are well-established and performing. In other words, they are "cultural ambassadors." The idea is that newcomers will absorb the company culture faster by working in proximity to these ambassadors.
Following this logic, I believe managers with their teams should establish guidelines around building a more robust network in the company and allow for in-person collaboration time. The point here is that with the guiding principles, we have a tool through which the team can better prioritize their time in the office. So, what is a guiding principle in this context of RTO policy implementation at the team level?
Few examples:
Prefer collaboration over meetings. The team will not schedule meetings during the in-office days - they can do the same from home via Zoom. Instead, they will encourage pair programming, brainstorming, and whiteboarding in the office.
Strengthening bonds. The team will reserve free time during in-office days for social activities in the office (or at the water cooler!)
Encourage community participation. During in-office days, the team should allocate time to attend tech talks, lunch and learns, fireside chats, Q&As, etc.
Test and evaluate. The team will establish checkpoints (e.g., once per quarter) during which the team will huddle and decide if the current RTO policy implementation is working.
These are just examples, but they're a solid foundation. As always, take them and make them your own.
Define in-office days
For the team to become closer and establish stronger ties, it's best to define a set of in-office days. By in-office days, I mean the team commits to a set of days to show up in the office. Simple to define, difficult to commit to. But you know what they say: a team that defines their office days together - stays together.
The policy can be enforced anywhere between one to four in-office days per week, depending on the company. Some companies use percentages, e.g., in-office participation at least 40% of the time. Then, the team needs to define two days of the week to be present in the office. The pedantic among us might argue that 40% can mean spending half a day in the office 4 days a week - which would be correct. But impractical, I'd bet. So, I prefer to avoid these overly flexible interpretations.
Defining the in-office days should be a collective decision - no one should be left behind. The implementation of the in-office policy will be uniformly applied, so everyone should have their say. That doesn't mean that it'll fit everyone's personal schedule. Fitting the in-office schedule to everyone's life is difficult, especially if the team is large. The difficulty of aligning on in-office days is proportional to the number of personal schedules that must be considered. Still, it's a worthwhile exercise.
If aligning on days proves difficult, the team can implement a rotation for in-office days. For example, if the requirement is to have 3 in-office days in the week, then every month, the team can go to the office on Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and every second month on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. That way, everyone on the team is ~evenly inconvenienced.
Define core hours
During the pandemic, everyone's schedule changed. We saw life and work get intertwined. Which was a challenge. The workaholics lost their lives, and the rest lost their motivation. Some of us moved away from the big cities we used to live in. Some of us even got used to the suburban life. Fast-forward to today - these same folks now will struggle to commute to the office.
Some folks became parents during the pandemic (like myself!). Some of us now have toddlers in daycare. Kids must be dropped off at the daycare or school and picked up at the correct times. Toddlers are also germ magnets - they get sick and pass their germs on to their parents. Taking care of a sick toddler while sick is.... something. And let's not fool ourselves: working next to a sick child who needs your care and attention is not possible. Full stop.
All that goes to show that we need flexibility in the work hours: every one should get the time to do their work, but those hours are not necessarily the same hours of the day for everyone. We must recognize that each team member may have different preferences and obligations outside of work. They should be able to propose their work hours, considering the requirement for core hours and the need for overlap with teammates for collaboration.
Leading with empathy and defining core hours for the team works best, and they set an even playing field for everyone. Core hours are a timeframe within a working day when the team must be online and available (e.g., on Slack) and actively working on their tasks. In the context of the hybrid model, it's best to define hours when everyone has to be in the office, too. During that time, folks will know that their teammates will be around for a coffee, pair programming, lunch, etc.
Having some flexibility for people who live far from the office is an extra step to make their lives easier and, ultimately, happier with their jobs. Such flexibility can make their lives easier, as commuting can be frustrating during rush hour. For example, I've seen folks using such flexibility to avoid traffic: they can split their days, e.g., work 2 hours in the morning at home, then commute to the office outside of the rush hour, spend the majority of core hours in the office, and then go home earlier (or later) to avoid the evening traffic.
Localize core hours and core days
If your team is distributed, there's further flexibility the team can unlock: all colocated team members can self-assign in-office days, with core in-office hours. Obviously, they have to overlap with the core hours of the team, but whether they're to work from home or from the office, it's best to be arranged by the affected individuals. The manager should be a facilitator for these conversations, not an active participant. It's up to the colocated folks to work this out together, so they are also bought into it.
"Satellite" offices and individuals
Suppose you're part of a company with smaller (a.k.a. satellite) offices worldwide. In that case, developing a policy regarding people who should return to those smaller offices is good. Frequently, such offices gravitate around sales and adjacent teams. As an engineer, there isn't too much of a point in commuting to and back from the office if other engineers aren't present on-site.
I am not suggesting hanging out with sales folks in the office is not good. In fact, I encourage it. But there are other (better!) reasons why an engineer should commute multiple times per week to the office. As managers, it's best to tap into these offices' local communities. Frequently, these offices have site leads who know the community and the office well, so with them, we can figure out the best way for our engineers to leverage the office and its community.
To assure equal and fair treatment to all "satellite" engineers, defining an org-wide policy is best. An example policy can be as simple as engineers are encouraged to observe the new RTO policy to work X% of the time in the office only if an engineering community is present on-site.
The threshold of engineering presence can be defined based on the company size. For some companies, having 3 engineers on-site is enough; for others, it might mean 300.
Show gratitude & recognition
Even though it's a policy and a job, I believe that team members who respect the back-to-office policy set an example for others and, as such, should get some recognition for it. Recognition is critical during the transition period when the team moves from a work-from-home / remote setup to a hybrid. To reinforce the good behavior it's useful to figure out how to extend the gratitude beyond a simple "thank you" at the next one-on-one.
I've got a few ideas.
First, public recognition. Acknowledge teammates' efforts to comply with the new policies during team meetings or through org-wide communications. Public recognition boosts the individual's morale and sets a positive example. But beware: some folks don't like the public praise. If that's the case, write them a personalized thank you note. It will make the individual feel appreciated for their efforts to adhere to new policies without shining the spotlight on them.
Another way is through reward programs. One can implement a rewards program where employees can earn a symbolic award for following the new back-to-office policy. I wouldn't go as far to suggest handing out "Amazon gift cards", as they might be perceived as a monetary reward. A better alternative can be some unique company swag. Every manager should use their knowledge of the individuals on the team and find a suitable award while still keeping it symbolic in monetary value.
An extension of the award idea is to put these individuals in the spotlight by making them team ambassadors. They can become culture champions who can take the lead in organizing and promoting in-office activities. Tread carefully: organizing team activities might not be enjoyable for everyone and might put pressure on them. I wouldn't want to put more pressure as a reward for following a new company policy.
Connecting beyond the office
It's also vital to continue extending the bond and camaraderie over the wire. In distributed teams, some folks won't work frequently with other distributed teammates. Even if they do go back to the office every week. In fact, they might rarely see each other on-site.
They need to spend time together virtually to strengthen the team's bond beyond the in-office connections. It's good to plan regular team-building activities and social events online, such as monthly virtual coffee breaks, virtual lunch (and pick up the tab!), and other water cooler chats over Zoom. These are virtual spaces for casual chats and non-work-related conversations. These can be a Zoom call or a dedicated chat channels where team members can share personal news, hobbies, or exciting finds.
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Until next time,
Ilija