My speaking gigs have kept me pretty busy of late, and the number one question I get, wherever I go, is about my thoughts on the ‘return to work’ debate. I have to be honest, I am amazed that this debate is still so focused on what I consider to be the least important aspects of the conversation. Instead of being so consumed with where we work, why aren’t we taking this opportunity to explore how we work? This is the moment to ask that question! The moment we are being challenged to meet the demands of a changed workplace. Humans are frustrated with how work works. Or doesn’t work. We can’t just slap new thinking on old systems and expect it will make positive change. That is too hard. As a result, we are effectively doing nothing. So much of the public return-to-work conversation is widely unimaginative and lacks any inkling of innovation. We are seeing many CEOs call people back to the office for reasons that revolve around the power of in-person work: collaboration, creativity, spontaneity, mentorship, and more. On the other hand, we’re seeing other CEOs double down on remote-only, touting the productivity and balance that it affords. And then there’s hybrid work, which is often mandated in such a way that all the flexibility it appears to offer is not really achieved.

What’s being ignored is the very real existential crisis that so many people are having about work as a whole. The congestion around this topic is causing trepidation in those people most affected by it: the workers. Leaders are making decisions, but their employees aren’t being asked to participate in that conversation, so the decisions aren’t meaningful to them.

People are as unhappy as ever at work. They don’t want to commute just for the sake of sitting at a company-approved desk. They don’t want to be at the office so much that they barely make it home to spend time with friends, families, and pets. They are often more productive when they aren’t distracted by coworkers. They don’t miss office politics.

At the same time, many workers do miss having some IRL connection with their colleagues. Despite being more productive at home, they are lonelier. I see that workers, including myself, are experiencing exhaustion from the routines and expectations of work as it’s always been, the ways we all think are “business as usual.” But they crave some of the more satisfying parts of work: the camaraderie. Human needs haven’t changed that much between pre-pandemic and now. We still need each other. What we don’t need is our workplace to prescribe what that looks like.

We all know that some forms of togetherness are good for work: other people have the power to give us energy and together we have a better chance of ensuring positive business outcomes. It’s probably safe to assume that we all miss something about what an in-person workplace can foster. And it’s that something that we all—leaders and the entire workforce —should be trying to figure out for ourselves and our workplaces.

So how can you participate? Perhaps you’re not a leader with a capital L (by title), but you influence the energy and ideas around you no matter where you sit within an organization. To find the right balance of connection and autonomy that we need, we have to work for it.

Get clear on what is most important to you.

‍The reality is that not everyone will want or need the same things, therefore everyone, on every team, in every location, won’t experience everything exactly the same way. And that’s ok. At Clockwork, we have lunch at the office every other Wednesday. Local employees can come in if they choose, but attending isn’t an option for our distributed employees who live outside of a drivable distance. When we introduced the lunch idea, I told everyone, “All things being equal, we would all be able to come together. But things aren’t always equal. They can be fair, but not equally and exactly the same.” We were raised to demand equal, but at work we have to figure out what is important to us as individuals and work to create that fair environment.

Get clear on what is most important to you.

‍The reality is that not everyone will want or need the same things, therefore everyone, on every team, in every location, won’t experience everything exactly the same way. And that’s ok. At Clockwork, we have lunch at the office every other Wednesday. Local employees can come in if they choose, but attending isn’t an option for our distributed employees who live outside of a drivable distance. When we introduced the lunch idea, I told everyone, “All things being equal, we would all be able to come together. But things aren’t always equal. They can be fair, but not equally and exactly the same.” We were raised to demand equal, but at work we have to figure out what is important to us as individuals and work to create that fair environment.

‍Consider yourself part of the solution.

‍It’s so important that we all think about decisions and designs about the future of work. Together, we can create what work can look like and identify opportunities that are on the horizon for workplaces. If that sort of big-picture idea feels too overwhelming to contemplate, think more specifically about how you can bring folks together in the context of your work. Consider collaborating to explore the needs of folks on teams, or in individual businesses, divisions, or departments. How can you coalesce to explore and collaborate? We rarely work to deeply understand what we as humans and teams, actually need from work, or what we need from a specific location, or, sometimes even more importantly, what we need from each other. But right now, we have the opportunity to do that.

‍Experiment with what “together” can look like.

‍The connection we crave may not need to come in the form of collaborating on a specific project or sitting next to each other while working on computers. Perhaps it can be less structured—perhaps we can get together more with fewer rules about work and more freedom to connect as people. Propose or organize virtual or in-person coffee meetups, game nights, or other social interactions to maintain team cohesion.Show you care about people and the organization.Caring, virtually or in-person, forges connection and a sense of togetherness. A simple message asking a colleague how they're doing can go a long way in building rapport and fostering a supportive work culture. Showing the organization you care and are engaged might look like regularly providing feedback about what's working and what isn't. Constructive feedback helps organizations understand on-the-ground challenges. It might be participating actively in workplace surveys, which are often a key metric for organizations trying to gauge employee sentiment.

‍Take responsibility for change and evolution.

‍Often, I see employees defer everything to leadership. I get it, that's how we’ve been taught to behave. But taking some responsibility can go far in exemplifying the power of working together. If your organization sets up committees to explore new ways of working, volunteer to participate. Share your experiences, strategies, and insights with younger or newer team members by providing mentorship or coaching. And be open to the idea of two-way mentorship. Most mentees have just as much to teach us, if we are open to it. If someone on your team is hesitant to share feedback or ideas, encourage them to speak up. A collective voice is more powerful.Lead by example.As organizations experiment, showcase a positive attitude towards trying new things, even if they might be outside your comfort zone. Even if you’re not entirely on board with a decision or the direction of things, give it a shot—give your best shot. At least you’ll know you did your best. As you go through the process, share your experiences. Talk about your successes and challenges in adapting to new ways of working. It can provide valuable insights for peers and superiors.

‍Ultimately, ask questions bigger than “remote or in office?

”Creating a future of work centered on what we really want and need will require us to ask questions bigger than “Where should we work—at home or the office?” This existential crisis isn’t just about where we work (or really about that at all), it’s about larger issues like how humans and business, as a whole, function. We should ask ourselves,

• What do we need from each other?
• What's important to us as an organization?
• How do we collaborate?
• What does the future of collaboration look like?
• How are our values informing the way we design how we work together?
• How can we make space to do better work?
• How might we make the pace of work more sustainable?
• How might we make more space for the human side of business, like mental health care and empathy?

The problem of whether remote, hybrid, or in-office work is best was present before the pandemic, we’ve just finally been forced to address that concern head-on. And it will continue to plague us until we ask better questions like those listed above.

Work, as we’ve known it, was built on the idea of material and wealth accumulation. While the need for profitability won’t change in the economy as it currently exists, the premise of what work is and how it functions for people can change. Every one of us, with our unique insights and experiences, have significant power to influence and shape the future of work. By actively participating, advocating for positive change, and collaborating with both peers and superiors, we can each play a pivotal role in designing a human-centered, functional work landscape. That is on all of us to design, with thoughtful engagement and purposeful togetherness.