Office Working

[Donz1979]

After 19 months of working home my employer has decided its time to return to office one day per week, so today is my day.
To say I am anxious is an understatement. We have all managed fine from home and apparantly no one speaks in office so what benefit is this.
Anyone else having first time back in office?

[shona]

No not yet, none of us want to go back but my daughter is the opposite and loves going in but she has a lot more flexibility on working from home when she wants

[BevS97]

My husband has been back for a couple of months. He can still work from
Home when it suits him but is in the office most days. I think he prefers it. He definitely chats to people when he is there which is one of the reasons he prefers to go in.

[mitch84]

One day a week is really reasonable I think.
I’ve been in about that all the way through (used to be full time) and it’s a great balance

[lcm23]

I'm still WFH but have been in once for a whole team meeting and I didn't really like it. It didn't feel like the same company. The office previously was buzzing with activity but when I went in there was my team of 8 plus about 6 others and it was dead. We are trialling going back in once per month for a f2f whole team meeting but I can't say I'm thrilled even at that. Tomorrow is the day I'll be going in... it just so happens to be new car day too so at least I'm finishing early to go pick up the new wheels! 🚙🚙

To OP...good luck with going in.i also got anxious before I last went in but found that although I didn't particularly like the dead atmosphere in the office, the thought of going in was worse than actually being there.

[Blue nose]

Originally Posted by lcm23

I'm still WFH but have been in once for a whole team meeting and I didn't really like it. It didn't feel like the same company. The office previously was buzzing with activity but when I went in there was my team of 8 plus about 6 others and it was dead. We are trialling going back in once per month for a f2f whole team meeting but I can't say I'm thrilled even at that. Tomorrow is the day I'll be going in... it just so happens to be new car day too so at least I'm finishing early to go pick up the new wheels! 🚙🚙

To OP...good luck with going in.i also got anxious before I last went in but found that although I didn't particularly like the dead atmosphere in the office, the thought of going in was worse than actually being there.

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I agree the thought is worse than the reality. I'm back one or two days a week.

I don't like it, many because I don't like the people I'm in with and get more done at home. From a covid perspective it's fine, I'm just antisocial.

Hope your day goes ok

[disney1st timer]

Yes back full time, I’m surprised that so many people don’t think life will go back to normal and that we’ll not be asked to go back to work. I agree that hybrid working will be more of a thing but I’d be surprised if companies would want their whole workforce at home and not in the business.

Good luck I’m sure you’ll be fine, you worked their before you can do it again ☺️

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by disney1st timer

Yes back full time, I’m surprised that so many people don’t think life will go back to normal and that we’ll not be asked to go back to work. I agree that hybrid working will be more of a thing but I’d be surprised if companies would want their whole workforce at home and not in the business.

Good luck I’m sure you’ll be fine, you worked their before you can do it again ☺️

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I work for a company that is pretty big, employs over 75,000 people.
They found us all so productive at home that they are closing 2/3rds of their offices altogether

So my local office never reopened after lockdown, the lease ended so they just went and cleared the furniture.

My main client is a huge food retailer and I used to go there a lot, I’ve been asked to go in once a week to touch base with the team etc.

I like those days for a proper coffee and bit of variety, but love my 4 days a week at home with the dog

[GoldenAvalanche]

I’ve really reluctantly started going back one day a week but honestly enjoying it. I’m not as productive as I talk too much but it’s great for my own well-being, just getting out the house is doing me rye works of good. I’m supposed to do 2 days but hoping to get away with 1, as I have too much to do to go in more!

[Gill H]

We are being ‘encouraged’ to start going into the office occasionally. You have to fill out a risk assessment and book a desk.

To be honest I have been on a staycation cruise and to the cinema, and next month I will be getting on a plane. I can’t really refuse to go into the office!

I am in a weird situation though. I am a PA and my boss and the rest of the team are in London. I’m in Wales. I can go into the Cardiff office but most of my day will be spent dealing with emails and dialling into meetings that don’t involve anyone else in the building.

Before Covid I used to go into the office once a week, as much to see people as anything. Now there will only be 6 or so people out of 35 in on any given day so it hardly seems worth it.

Also I now work 4 days of 9 hours 15 min so I can have Thursdays off to look after my parents. That works OK when working from home but if you add on a commute it makes for a very long day. Not least because there is only one train an hour here.