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Leadership / Leadership in Crisis

Here’s the First Thing to Do When Your Team Returns to the Office

July 4, 2021
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The last one and a half years (aka the COVID-19 pandemic) have turned the working world upside down. It has redefined what “work normality” means for most of us. It is clear that work will never go back to pre-pandemic times. While more and more teams are slowly returning to the office, the big question for team leaders is: How will the new normality look like for you and your team? And what can you, as a team leader, do to facilitate a successful return to the office? For every team, this new normality will likely look slightly different, but there are a few steps that can help every team leader to find out what is right for them and their team. Here’s how you can successfully manage the return to the office in 2021!

Just as when you move into a new house, change can seem intimidating at first, but it is actually a unique opportunity for decluttering and improving your life (or in our case, decluttering and improving best practices in your team). The key thing you and your team need to focus on is this: What have you learned during the last year?

To help you answer this question, we have broken it down into 5 main questions that can guide you on your team’s journey to take full advantage of the lessons learned during this extraordinary year.

What should stay?

The last year brought a lot of changes and new aspects to everyday work. For example, the way your team communicated was likely very different – instead of booking a meeting room for brainstorming on a topic, these brainstorming sessions were held online with the aid of online tools. What aspects of this “new work” did you and your team appreciate? What went well and should be kept? Ask yourself and ask also your team about the advantages that came with working from home.

Write down all the different answers. Then, brainstorm together with your team how these aspects could be realistically implemented in your future work.

What should go?

While working from home came with some perks, it also came with challenges. It’s time to dig through the mud. What did not work for you and your team? For example, certain tasks and collaborations might be less efficient when done online and rather require in-person meetings. Ask yourself and your team what the disadvantages were of working from home.

Have a look at the answers – what seem to be the largest challenges? Together with your team, identify the patterns that emerge and think of possibilities to minimize or even avoid these challenges in the future.

What is still needed?

There might be aspects that didn’t go well before the pandemic and that also didn’t go well during the pandemic. Now (together with all other changes) is a great opportunity to target and improve best practices within your team, that needed revision long ago. Ask your team what they would like to see implemented in the future. And ask yourself, what you need from your team in the future for a successful cooperation within the team.

How do you feel about returning to the office?

The past one and a half years have been hugely disruptive to the work normality we all knew. Specifically for team leaders, the return to the office can be a daunting task, as they are confronted with the organizations’ guidelines, the team members’ expectations, and the task to do a good job.

This is why it is so important to pause for a second and ask yourself how you feel about this next step. What emotions are you experiencing? Reflecting about your emotions is important, as they can influence the decisions you make and your communication with your team. And this is especially true in times of crisis – make sure to check out the Do’s  and Don’ts of crisis leadership that we have compiled for you for the best tips on how to nail leading during a crisis!

How does your team feel about returning to the office?

Returning to the office can spark many different feelings – not only for you, but also for your team members. While some may be stoked about leaving the home office behind, others are less excited about this step. Ask them about how they work best and try to engage in active listening. When deciding with your team on the new work normality that you want to create, consider that different things work for different individuals.

Of course, you’re not a magician and it is almost impossible to ensure that everyone’s wants and needs will be implemented. However, asking and listening to every team member individually and trying to take some of their needs into account when making decisions, can have a huge positive impact on the team dynamics.

An opportunity to grow

Take the answers to these questions seriously and think of ways to implement them into your team’s daily work. That way, you and your team can get inspired by and embrace changes and lessons learned from last year.  

By actively involving your team in the process of shaping your work future, your team members will feel heard and understood. They will feel more committed to their work and to the organization. And this in turn means that they will be in the right mindset to excel as a team.

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This post is based on the following sources and academic articles