Calling a Ceasefire on the Remote Work Debate

It all starts with a bold proclamation that we must all join the work-from-home revolution, that not doing so is an assault on our freedoms and rights as modern-day employees. Or, it begins with a stake in the ground that we all have to return to the office, meet by the water coolers and break bread together—or else culture is dead forever.

But this isn’t the Hunger Games. We can all make it out of this with what we want. When you look beyond the vitriol, people are all really saying the same thing: We want flexibility.

And while the easiest-to-grasp concept of flexibility is work-from-home versus in-office versus hybrid, this is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re selling ourselves short when we fixate on just this one aspect. And whether they’re deliberately provocative or not, the one-sidedness of these LinkedIn arguments undermines the very idea of flexibility itself.

There Is More to a Flexible Workplace Than Meets the Eye

Flexibility is more than just where you work; it’s how and when you work, the way teams operate, your approach to communication and much more. For those of you imagining yourself working on a chaise lounge in Tahiti sipping on a piña colada, it doesn’t mean there are no rules. Flexibility is about giving employees freedom within boundaries.

So what does that look like? How does one balance boundaries and freedom? And as just one person in an organization, how does one move the needle?

It begins with listening. As a team, we can align around shared values, needs and goals to understand what exactly we’re doing, where we’re going, the challenges and roadblocks we face and how that fits into our company’s culture. How does our team mission serve the larger North Star of the organization?

From there, we can establish team guidelines and a micro-culture within the larger organizational culture to allow our team to work best. It can be as major as a four-day work week or as small as an agreement to only use email for certain types of projects. It can look like setting a certain amount of time aside for experimentation or only being on-camera two days a week. Maybe certain responsibilities shift monthly across the team.

Of course, sometimes we will have to make small concessions for the greater good of the team, but when we decide on these guidelines collectively and understand the why behind them, it’s easier to adapt to them and we create deeper trust.

The beauty of flexibility is that it’s flexible! We don’t just set it and forget it. We should be actively revisiting these guidelines. If something stops working, we can find a new approach. When we have a new joiner, we can invite their perspective to improve our ways of working.

In the face of major life changes, we can adapt to accommodate. The one piece that stays consistent is the opportunity for each team member to be heard and to listen to one another.

Over the past few years, we haven’t found the answer to flexibility because the definition of flexible is different for everyone. So, let’s put down our LinkedIn swords and begin to not only voice our needs but encourage others to voice theirs so we can build toward the future of work together.

Flexibility isn’t something that’s just handed to you when you demand it loudly enough. It takes focused work that never stops. Are you willing to do that work?

Sorry This Is Late. I Was Depressed