Why are we still having this conversation?
Why are we still having this conversation?
It’s been over five years since the world first went remote.
And still, every few months, we see another headline:
“Employees must return to the office to rebuild culture.”
Amazon recently called their staff back to the office five days a week based on a need to improve company culture.
Really?
If you’re still using culture as your reason for dragging people back in even more, maybe the issue isn’t the policy. Maybe it’s that you don’t actually know what kind of culture you’re trying to build.
Because culture’s more like a garden than a building. You can’t just ‘return’ to it and expect it to thrive. It needs ongoing care, pruning, and replanting, regardless of where your team happens to sit. If it’s withered, the problem isn’t location. It’s neglect.
And let’s be honest:
A lot of pre-Covid office culture was just... convenience.
Proximity. Osmosis. The illusion of alignment because everyone sat near the same snack drawer.
But culture isn’t just about being in the same building.
It’s about shared values, consistent behaviour, and how decisions get made wherever you are.
I’m not anti-office. Far from it.
In the company I led through and after Covid, we saw real benefits from remote work and found that three days a week in-person gave us just enough spark to stay connected, while keeping flexibility and focus for the rest.
But that worked because we knew what we wanted our culture to be:
Energised. Creative. Performance-focused. Caring.
Not just a list of words in a slide deck. But lived, talked about, checked against, invested in and deliberate.
What worries me is when I see leaders default to mandates instead of reflection.
Five-day office weeks may be right for certain businesses but won’t fix a toxic culture.
Ping pong tables won’t build trust.
And if people don’t know what’s expected of them or don’t believe in the mission, no amount of in-person collaboration will change that.
Culture isn’t built in a building.
It’s built in decisions. And behaviours. And trust.
So if you’re thinking about office policies right now, ask yourself this as well:
👉 What kind of culture are we really building?
👉 And are our decisions about where and how we work actually reinforcing it?
Because if you're still having this conversation in 2025,
it’s not about the office.
It’s about the leadership.
👇Photo - Me at my weekly Tuesday morning coaching session for Jeff. He's making good progress.
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👉 I help founders and senior leaders lead through ambiguity — defining strategy, shaping culture, and building teams that don’t just survive change, but drive it.
Book a free discovery session. DM me or visit my website (link in comments).