We’ve all thought about it

Working remotely is not something new. While most professions are not viable to be done remotely, some are. Almost everything that is done with a computer can be done remotely.

Simple as this may sound, it wasn’t until the world was forced to minimize human contact that we witnessed remote work as a rule instead of an exception in jobs that can be done remotely. Other jobs were kept as before, terminated or suspended.

Fast-forward from 2020 to 2025 and what we can see is a number of complex ways companies have come up with in terms of rules and their enforcements. Here are a few I’ve seen thus far:

  1. Fully remote:
    1. No offices, no regular IRL meetings of any kind.
    2. No offices, but regular IRL meetings (at least yearly).
    3. Office is available, people are free to show up as they wish.
  2. Hybrid:
    1. People can go to the office/work from home as they wish (this is the same as 1.3 😅).
    2. People must go to the office at least x times a month.
    3. People must go to the office at least x times a week.
    4. People must go to the office at least x times a week — on fixed days.
  3. Office:
    1. People must work from the office every day.

Then there are a few caveats, especially for hybrid scenarios:

  1. You may be required to book a desk before showing up at the office.
  2. You may be required to select office days based on your team’s choices.
  3. When doing your onboarding, you may be required to go to the office more frequently, or even every day.
  4. You may end up working in a pouf.

📝 I’ve also seen computer jobs that cannot be done remotely because you need to work with equipment (e.g. payment terminals) which cannot leave the office.

What I’ve experienced

I started working during COVID, and was not allowed to go to the office at that time. Eventually, we started with model 2.1 — or 1.3 model, whichever grouping you prefer.

I was one of the people that attended the office the most. Getting out of my home for work always feels refreshing. Moreover, being able to make my working hours flexible has allowed me to wake up early, drive to the office while avoiding significant traffic, and then leave the office early as well, again avoiding most of the traffic.

Some months ago, we changed to model 2.4. This shift, from being able to go to the office when we wanted to, to being required to be in the office on fixed week days, has brought some interesting changes to the office dynamics:

1. People that never showed up at the office started showing up

This one is obvious, but noteworthy. I’m not one to say if they’re happy or not. But they’re there!

2. People that used to go to the office more frequently ceased to do so

This one took me by surprise. When people were free to go to the office on any week day they wished to, they would go 2 or 3 times a week, or random days. But then as they became forced to attend on specific days, they limited their going to the office to the minimum required.

3. Weak enforcing of rules has created uncomfortable situations

Some people have found that flexibility in the rules does not have any adverse effects. This has created situations in which people abuse the lack of checking.

Takeaways

I’ve had several months to think about many of these policies. Here are some thoughts I haven’t seen written out:

  1. Once you create office day rules, be ready to enforce them — otherwise, they’re just cute suggestions.
  2. Breaking the status quo is the hardest part: once the COVID model is broken, it becomes easy to change things around.
  3. Be mindful of the exceptions you open and make them public. Exceptions may be based on distance to the office, health considerations, etc. But if people are using such exceptions in a non-transparent way, everyone else will question the motive for it, and with good reason.