6 Mindset Shifts to Return to the Office With Enthusiasm.

Think back to 2020; you were plunged into remote work without warning. You resisted, complained and couldn’t comprehend working from home permanently.

Now you’re resisting being summoned back into the office because you have created a new routine, and it's working for you.

Resisting reality is going to leave you frustrated and resentful. The truth is that the office is not the problem; it’s how you’re thinking about it and your attitude towards it.

Here are some mindset shifts to create an attitude of enthusiasm, energy and passion for those office days:

Use design thinking.

You cannot cut and paste a WFH (work from home) schedule into an office day.

Consider a typical workday and a vacation day. They are entirely different in every way from your headspace, the activities you do and how the day unfolds. Trying to compare them is not practical or realistic.

I ask you to apply the same thinking when working from home versus an office day – they are entirely different and should be planned accordingly. Some questions to think through:

·        What time do you need to wake up?

·        How long do you have for self-care in the morning?

·        If the morning doesn’t work, when will you make time for self-care?

·        What kind of activities will you schedule each day?

You need two separate routines for WFH and an office day. Your time is not the same, so your plan has to adapt accordingly. You cannot expect the same morning routine; it is impossible and will leave you frustrated about what you had to give up.

Plan your week before you are in it, and schedule what you intend to do for your work and non-work activities, considering the different structures for an office day and WFH day.

Remember - if your inbox dictates your day, it doesn’t matter where you work.

What about office distractions?

Most people complain that they never get to their actual work because the office has too many distractions. A better question is:

What did you plan to do that day?

Accept that the office will have more interruptions than when you are alone at home. The author, Paul Graham, writes about having a manager vs maker schedule.

A maker schedule is dedicated to long stretches of interrupted time to work on strategies, planning documents or writing. A manager's schedule is focused on shorter bursts of time for meetings, including planning, rescheduling, hosting and attending meetings.

A meeting will sabotage a maker’s schedule because it is intrusive and doesn’t allow for flow. When you know a task requires a maker’s hat, schedule long blocks of uninterrupted time at home. Or, if you are required to be in the office, book a meeting room where you will not be disturbed.

Plan your office and home activities based on what needs to get done. The more clarity you can create ahead of time, the more productive you will be.

Think about why you are coming to the office – how can you maximise the time for the relevant activities? Can you plan for brainstorming or collaborative activities with your teams rather than using the office as another location to check your email?

Can you use your office days to walk the floors and help mentor your more junior reports?

If you have a deadline that requires uninterrupted time to think, then don’t plan that for an office day. Certainly not between meetings, as it will only leave you frustrated.

Own your inbox

Hybrid work has introduced the ‘In-office’ autoresponder. If you are in the office, manage people’s expectations with an autoresponder informing people that you may not be available to pick up Team’s messages or WhatsApp as frequently.

When you live by design and not default, you will master hybrid work and own your days rather than feel like they own you.

Place value on connection.

The most frequent complaint is coming to the office for online meetings. The point of returning to the office is to create the opportunity for the impromptu conversation to return.

Do not underestimate the power of the friendly banter in the elevator or the line in the canteen. Relationships are developed and nurtured when you can connect on a human level, not just about the work.

Somewhere down the line, we lost that online. At the beginning of 2020, we cared about our colleagues' well-being and made time for personal check-ins. I’m not saying all companies have stopped this, but we want to get on with the work in times of overwhelm and deadlines.

When you are face to face, you will take more time to connect, even if it is asking about someone’s weekend.

One of my clients was extremely frustrated that their day ‘was wasted by conversation’ because meetings took longer in person, and colleagues came past their desk for a coffee catch up. Connection is not wasted time; it is why you are back in the office.

You will change how you approach conversations when you can value on connection and relationship building. Consider a manager building up relationships with his team members in the office; it is a stronger bond. They are more top of mind when assigning opportunities or promotions.

Beware of staying at home with the camera off; you lose an opportunity to network and build sponsors. Even more dangerous is that you risk falling off the radar regarding leadership opportunities.

Bring back healthy debate.

Connection in person is not only about weekend banter but enables candour because, in my experience, we are too polite on zoom.

No one feels safe enough to challenge and question the status quo because you don’t want to be the only one to question it. You can engage in healthy debate when you are in a room with people and view your colleagues' energy, tone, body language, and intention.

You can have a laugh after or get a coffee together rather than end the meeting alone in your house with anxiety about how your comment was received. Or worse, you never used the opportunity to show your value or suggest a helpful solution, and the moment is gone.

Reimagine the commute.

You can’t change the commute, but you can shift your mindset around it. It’s an opportunity for personal growth by listening to podcasts, audiobooks or even studying. Or perhaps you can use the time to catch up on calls with friends or family.

Use this time to put yourself into a peak state before arriving at the office. Listening to other people’s stories of success and the setbacks and challenges they endured gives you the confidence to do the same. Success leaves clues – become a master of people who has achieved what you aspire to and use their lessons to fast track your growth.

Again, be deliberate and create a plan for what you want to listen to over the next month. You could create a 6-month plan and upskill yourself in a particular area. It all comes down to design thinking.

Here are some of my favourite podcasts and audiobooks:

·        The Tim Ferriss Show

·        Impact Theory with Tom Bileau

·        The School of Greatness – Lewis Howes

·        The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

·        On Purpose with Jay Shetty

·        What’s Essential with Greg McKeown

·        The Personal Mastery Program – Dr Srikumar Rao

·        The Values Factor – Dr John Demartini

Set your intention.

It’s not enough to show up with your face down to the ground with the attitude that this is an interruption to your actual work. Instead, show up with an attitude of service. Leaders want people to demonstrate their commitment and passion for the business. To be a team player, you need to show up with intention.

What’s your intention to be in the office today?

Is it to demonstrate a skill, walk the floors and inspire your team? Can you spend an extra ten minutes with someone to mentor them, or if you’re not in management, can you spend time with someone, ask how they are and make someone feel like they matter?

If you are not in the office, what do people miss? What is your superpower?

·        Are you the fixer?

·        Do you bring humour and some silliness?

·        Are you the team ‘Yoda’ –  do you bring wisdom and calm?

How can you add value by bringing your whole self to the office?

Intention is everything because emotional contagion is real; if your mood is irritable, angry or resentful, it permeates the office, whether online or in person. Set your intention to arrive with a fresh attitude of positivity, curiosity, empathy and passion.

Not every day is sunshine and rainbows, but how you show up to these situations will dictate the kind of day you will experience and those around you.

It’s time to outgrow old habits.

We did get a little too comfortable working from home, if we're honest. You don’t need to get dressed to the nines every day, but the fact that you need to spend some extra time getting ready for the office brings up some resentment.

Consider that you feel better when you leave the house when you spend some time getting office-ready. It does something on a confidence level because you’re in the right mindset. You are showing up not only for the team but for yourself.

Remember, showing up looking polished and ready for the day inspires trust in those around you. The golden rule is to be appropriate to the environment and authentic to you.

It’s also time to let go of the comfort habit of multi-tasking, which became your go-to solution when it felt like your work hours decreased and the volume of work increased. To cope with the new demands, you switched your camera off and tackled multiple projects at once.

The research shows us that multi-tasking hampers productivity; it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to what you were doing. It is not multi-tasking but task switching.

In his book, Deep Work, Cal Newport describes a phenomenon called ‘Attention Residue’. When working on your proposal, you are still thinking about the email you need to send. When you are thinking about the email, your mind wanders about the meeting from this morning.

In a nutshell, it is mental multitasking, and it’s exhausting. This is why you may feel like you are in a constant brain fog despite having a decent night's sleep.

Whether you are in the office or home, focus on doing one thing at a time. Your brain is so used to tackling multiple things at once that it feels like you are being unproductive. Start simply - when you are making coffee – only make the coffee. When you brush your teeth, it is not an opportunity to check your email.

When you give yourself the mental permission to focus, your productivity and output will be more valuable.

Focus on the bigger picture.

Hybrid work requires a mindset shift from silo work to teamwork. You can no longer focus on your specific activities in isolation but ask yourself the following questions:

·        How do you foster relationships with colleagues?

·        How do you plan for growth beyond tomorrow?

·        How do your actions affect the team?

·        What has to happen for your team to be successful?

When you can take a step back from ticking items off a to-do list and consider the bigger picture, you naturally become a valued team player.

The bigger picture goes beyond your immediate team; what about understanding how you can add value across the business? How does your role affect finance, marketing or other support functions?

Set up meetings with people across various disciplines and departments to understand their challenges and how your department could support them.

Again, you don’t have to be a senior manager; you can investigate and discuss this with your team. Consider how your efforts will reflect not only on your team but the business.

Final thoughts.

When you can shift your mindset about returning to the office, you change your entire experience.

Perhaps an office day feels like fewer hours to work, but the question is, how can you create better hours by placing greater value on connection and collaboration?

Become the architect of your WFH and office days to ensure they are rewarding with the following mindset shifts:

·        Use design thinking.

·        Place value on connection.

·        Reimagine the commute.

·        Set your intention.

·        It’s time to outgrow old habits.

·        Focus on the bigger picture.

Here’s to the next normal of work,

Warm wishes

Lori