Although Livit is deeply embedded in the world of remote work — having been remote capable since Day 1, and having run and built remote teams for over a decade now — we also run a physical hub and shared office in Bali that is open 24/7. So, how do we feel about return-to-office (RTO) mandates, which are becoming increasingly common as companies navigate post-pandemic work environments?
Ever since the world began emerging from Covid-19, the question on countless CEOs’ lips has been, “When should our team members stop working remotely and return to the office?”
Meanwhile, the question in countless professionals’ minds has been, “Do I even want to return to the office?”
A quick scan of the world’s biggest tech companies reveals that most have issued RTO mandates to their employees, with the hybrid work model (in this case, in-office three days a week) being the most popular direction for Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. On the other hand, Tesla issued a strict RTO mandate requiring employees to return to the office full-time for a minimum 40-hour week (no surprises there).
As a remote capable company that runs a physical coworking/shared office hub in Bali, which is centered around both human interaction and creating the perfect conditions for independent, focused work, we are well positioned to answer that common question of “Is the future remote or back to the office?”
But we’re not going to. Because it’s the wrong question to ask.
To begin exploring why the “office vs. remote” dichotomy is an entirely unhelpful approach, I’m going to share three quick anecdotes about the work situations of some friends and acquaintances:
Andrea, who held a leadership role at a med-tech company, quit her job because she was asked to return to the office. During the few years before this, she had shaped her entire life based on the assumption that she could work remotely, more often than not.
Alex, an entrepreneur, decided to allow remote work forever within his team. His company allocates budgets for coworking spaces for employees who want to work from somewhere resembling an office and yearly budgets for teams to meet in person.
Maria, who has two small children at home, told me she is now back to the office more often than is required by the company (which is three days a week) and is absolutely thrilled about it. In her words, she loves the fact that it’s quiet, clean, and that she gets an eight-hour break from scraping food off the floor, and no one calls her name every two minutes.
Can you now see why “office vs. remote” is the wrong way to think about the “ideal work environment”?
Let’s now take a quick look at how we do things at Livit.
In our teams, we have team members spanning the full remote vs. office spectrum: working fully remote (some we’ve never met in real life even if we’ve worked together for years); some hybrid; and some who prefer to or have to be at a physical location some or most days. We have been named one of the Best Places To Work across the entire Asian continent, and rank among the 2% most engaged teams in the world according to OfficeVibe.
Yet, where our team works from has never felt pivotal or particularly relevant to our employee-employer relationship.
Rather than focusing on where our team members work, we are all about focusing on how they work — and this, in essence, is why we’ve been recognized by several other global programs (like the Flexible Workplace Awards, Best Organisations to Escape To, People-First Jobs and more) for our happy, healthy, and engaging work culture.
Here are three of the areas that enable us to break free of the reductive office vs. remote dichotomy and nurture a work environment that places equal importance on the wellbeing of team members as it does on performance:
- We enable asynchronous work or the ability to do focused work, uninterrupted, for at least a few hours a day. To make this happen, teams generally need fewer meetings, better documentation. This also requires flexibility/agency, empowering people to behave like adults at work, and treating them as such.
- We prioritize meaningful work. Studies estimate that up to 95% of work time in some teams is spent on reports, meetings, looking for documents, internal communication, and other aspects we generally refer to as “meta-work”. Instead, we ensure that all team members have clarity on what’s meaningful, and that we’re aligned on purpose and direction.
- We ensure all team members have clarity on goals, roles, responsibilities and alignment in measuring performance and delivery on goals. If you know what needs to be done, by whom, and you can measure it, when or where teams work becomes largely irrelevant.
We’re now going to hear from a few Livit team members who represent the spectrum, and a little about why the way they work matters a lot more than where:
Fully Remote: Chalsie Janny, Operations Manager of Remote Skills Academy by Livit
“As a fully remote team member, I’ve found that the key to productivity and job satisfaction lies in a supportive and flexible work culture. It’s not about being in a specific location, but about having the autonomy to work in an environment that allows for balance and wellbeing, and a positive and effective workflow that fully aligns with Livit’s values of ‘innovative culture’.”
Partially Remote: Raymond Hasiholan, Livit’s Brand & Social Media Manager
“As a Livit team member, I think how we work is more important than where we work. We have the freedom to manage our own time and work from wherever we want, which is great for work-life balance. What matters most is getting results and working together effectively, no matter where we are located. This makes Livit a really positive and fulfilling place to work.”
Office-based: Ari Sukma Dewi, one of Livit’s Front Desk Champions
“Livit makes sure we understand our roles, goals, and responsibilities clearly from the beginning, so it doesn’t matter where we are working from. The supportive environment at Livit encourages teamwork and keeps us motivated, whether we’re working remotely or at the Hub.”
As you can see from the experiences of Chalsie, Raymond, and Sukma, the future is not about where we work, but reinventing the way we work. The future is also about choice and agency. It’s about working from where you’re most inspired and productive, and allowing your team to do the same.
Are you part of a smaller company aiming to expand your team and optimize its productivity and wellbeing, but simply don’t have the ability to hire a full-time HR manager? Then hiring a Fractional Head of Remote or Fractional HR Business Partner could be the answer you need. Click here to learn more!
Or, if you’re eager to discover how you can improve communication, engagement and collaboration in your (remote) team, download our free Virtual Team Building Playbook.
Or, perhaps you’re simply ready to work from where you feel most inspired? Head over to our coworking membership plans or team workation packages at Livit Hub Bali.
Here’s to more meaningful work getting done by highly engaged, happy, productive teams, wherever they choose to work from!
