You're on the clock! The "this time we're really returning to the office" guide: part 3
The countdown to return-to-office has started. Are you ready?
This is the third of three articles outlining the key stages, decision points, and priorities for establishing and executing your return to the office. In Part 1 we explained why this time the return timeline is real, and outlined the big picture considerations you should be working through ASAP. In Part 2, we discussed the specific operational planning you should be working through 4+ months ahead of returning.
Finally, in this Part 3, we’ll dive deeper into the implementation phase and tactical items to work through leading up to return.
12 weeks to go: the implementation stuff
By now, you’ve worked through the critical operational priorities required to clear the path to return. Now, you’re in full-on implementation mode, knocking out the to-do list and clearing the path for your employees to seamlessly [one can hope] get back into the office and transition to hybrid work.
The key implementation steps we’ll cover are:
Constantly reiterate return timing (both soft & hard dates)
Compile and communicate *all* of your policies
Set up your physical space
Communicate all your policies
Figure out in-office logistics & amenities
Establish office capacity limits
Invest in team coordination software
Figure out where your employees are - and where they can be
Constantly reiterate return timing (both soft & hard dates)
We’ll assume [err, hope] that by the time you are 12 weeks or fewer from returning, you’ve communicated a firm return date.
Now, you need to constantly reiterate that return timing. Aim for doing this bi-weekly until you are about 4 weeks out, and then do it weekly. Remember, your employees have also watched their return dates come and go during COVID. They’re going to be nervous that your return timing may change.
If you are going to start with a soft reopening (e.g. optional return), make sure you are clear about those expectations upfront. Also be clear on when those soft expectations will evolve to hard ones!
Pro tip: To avoid constant, repetitive emailing, create a tracker system for your company. That could mean giving teams a go-to document/internal site where they can check and reaffirm the date. Or it could mean establishing a communicable color system for the return (e.g. "green/yellow/red” as to whether you are still on track for return.)
Compile and communicate *all* of your policies
If you’ve followed Parts 1 and 2 of this guide, you’ve drafted quite a lot of new policies. While you may have started sharing those piece-meal with your team, now is the time to compile them into a single place. That may look like an update to an existing company handbook or internal HR site, or it may be publishing a new “Hybrid work manual” or “return to office site.”
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of what policies you should probably have included:
Norms and guidelines for in-office expectations (including capacity protocols, manager roles, performance considerations, etc.)
Virtual hiring approach
Vaccination requirements / policies
In-office health & safety guidelines
Check-in processes and requirements
In-office vs. WFH/remote benefits plans
Any restrictions on where remote employees can live (more on this below)
Yes, it’s a lot, so finding an employee-friendly way to aggregate, communicate, and give access to these policies is critical.
Pro tip: Remember your landlords may have additional policies that you’ll need to understand, adhere to, and re-communicate to your employees. Put those in your aggregated handbook/site!
Set up your physical space
Your real estate strategy should be firm and hopefully you aligned on a plan for how you want the office to be setup and utilized. Now you need to actually do it!
Go ahead and put any finishing touches on your approach to office setup and then I strongly advise you to “lock” it with 8+ weeks to go. Not doing this will put you at risk of late-stage changes that will cause annoying coordination ripples (as physical space is a vendor/third-party heavy effort).
The considerations in getting physical space ready include:
Building access setup (badging, information, etc.)
High-level floor plan
New furniture purchases (and old furniture removal)
Cleaning scheduling (both pre-return and post-return)
Conference room setups
Desk installation / removal / setup
In-office health and safety notices / information
Team equipment (monitors, keyboards, etc.)
Pro tip: Be careful not to let perfect be the enemy of the good! It’s highly likely your office setup will need to evolve further once you see how it actually works when employees come back. With that in mind, be mindful not to “overdo it” on the floor plan design (including software!) Err on the side of “easy and cheap to modify as we go” - there is plenty of low-cost or free tooling out there.
Figure out in-office logistics & amenities
Returning to the office also means returning to office management. A significant portion of that is old-hat stuff that you simply need to reboot now that you are coming back to your space. That includes re-contracting any third-party vendors (e.g. snack or coffee providers), buying new office supplies, etc.
You’ll also need to make a decision about where you expect people to sit and work! This means considering office layout, desire for collaborative space vs. desks, and any distancing requirements you need to have in place.
Desks will be a big part of that in-office experience. Most companies will choose one (or potentially a mix) of these three desk / hoteling models:
Individually assigned desks. If you have ample space and skew toward more frequent in-office attendance, you may still want to have assigned desks per individual.
First come first serve (FCFS) / hoteling and/or podded desks. Rather than assigned seats, you can make all desks available to anyone, and/or to specific teams. For example, you might setup one group of desks for Marketing with specific office supplies, and another group of desks for Engineering with extra monitors.
Individual desk reservations. Use common tools (e.g. spreadsheets/forms) or software to require employees to reserve the desk they want each day or week. This can go to the extreme (e.g. badge-in systems on each desk) or stay basic (e.g. using calendar resources).
Pro tip: Get input from your team on the idea of desk reservations before you commit! I’ve heard many stories recently of companies sharing proposed plans for desk reservations and getting strong employee push back (related to concerns over the daily overhead / inflexibility of booking desks). The last thing you want is to buy software or setup a process just to find out it cracks as soon as employees start using it. Keep in mind, it’s easier to move from FCFS/hoteling to reservations than it is to go the other way.
Establish office capacity limits
If your real estate footprint has changed meaningfully, or if you have distance requirements in your office, you’ll potentially need to establish capacity limits. You’ll also want a way to define that by different offices/buildings and to enforce it.
The priority is to calculate what your capacity limits are, if any. The easy way to do this is:
First, establish an estimated square footage per person, inclusive of any additional space needed to adhere to distancing guidelines.
Then, you just compare that to overall space availability to compute a max individual capacity. You can then round up or down accordingly.
The hardest step is finding the right way to communicate and track capacity. Tools like Scoop can help you do that in real-time on a per-office basis.
Pro tip: Do your best to factor in team preferences/perceptions as part of the “space per person” calculations. For example, it’s possible you may not need to adhere to social distancing guidelines, but that the team will desire a specific amount of space per person to feel comfortable. There’s certainly no science for how to do this, but it’s a good thing to keep in mind. Remember, going back to work will be a big physical change given many team members will have not been in a group setting for a year or more.
Invest in team coordination software
If you’re reopening an office, your company [almost certainly] has goals for what you want the in-office experience to provide to employees. For the companies I’ve spoken with, the most important thing in coming back to the office is “in-person connection and collaboration” - which won’t come as a surprise.
In order to enable your employees to actually reap that benefit, you need to help them coordinate their in-person experience! The last thing you want is for employees to repeatedly come into the office just to get on a Zoom to talk to their manager/teammate who is at home that day.
Helping managers, teams, and cross-functional groups organize their in-office days and have visibility into who is coming in, who is on PTO, who is working remotely, etc. is going to be a critical step in enabling a successful hybrid transition.
This is not an easy problem to solve, and investing in software that enables team coordination in order to realize the value of the office is a smart thing to do as you approach return. Scoop is building a cross-platform coordination solution for this exact purpose.
Pro tip: This is implied by this being on the implementation list, but do not wait until after you return to figure out team coordination! If your team quickly starts to feel that the in-office experience isn’t delivering because they’re not getting the desired in-person time with the right people, it is going to create significant tension with in-office policies and the overall transition to hybrid. That’s an easily avoidable pitfall with the right tools and investments upfront.
Figure out where your employees are - and where they can be
It’s highly likely you’ve had at least a few employees temporarily (or semi-permanently) relocate during the pandemic. That was fine for a while, but as you start to return to the office and formalize your hybrid policies, you will need to figure out where everyone is.
You can do this through a current location survey. Additionally, it can be helpful to set a timeline for employees to communicate any formal relocation so you can update your HRIS system accordingly. This is critical to make sure you stay tax and labor law compliant.
You may also need to specify any geographic restrictions that could impact employees. If you are not willing to have employees relocate to a specific state (due to tax implications, as an example) you need to tell them that and reconcile any temporarily relocated team members.
Pro tip: This one will feel pretty obvious, but, talk to a lawyer about this! The world of state-specific tax responsibilities and labor laws is complex, and there is a lot of nuance to what compliance can and should look like. This is something that can have a really meaningful team and/or economic impact on the business if you misplay the risk factors.
Wrapping up + what to watch out for
If you’ve gotten this far, I sincerely hope you’ve found this guide helpful. Ideally, you can use it as a reference point as you advance along the journey that is the return to office + hybrid transition.
A few parting thoughts:
Remember, COVID is still evolving. The only constant with the pandemic is change, and even in the final stretch, that will be the case. Change in guidelines, restrictions, and risks are inevitable, so plan for them and monitor closely.
Do your best to build flexibility into your decisions. Not only will COVID keep evolving, but there is going to be a lot of change and new learnings once we actually are living the transition to this new world. Try to avoid irreversible decisions or over-investing in areas or policies where change is likely.
You’re not alone: this is hard! It’s been a long, long year for you and this transition is another huge challenge. Just remember that there are literally millions of companies learning this at the same time, and resources like this Substack and others are here to help.
Thanks for reading! If you have return questions or stories to share, I encourage you to leave them in the comments below.
If you’re enjoying this guide and the other content from Unlocking the Hybrid Workplace, I’d appreciate you spreading the word with your team and network!