JTBD (jobs-to-be-done) for your workplace policy
It's not about working from home - it's about access to work
RTO-tantrums are very fashionable right now. I don’t blame those CEOs for being afraid of change or worried about their real estate investments. People protect what they feel entitled to, trying to frame the narrative in their own best interest.
And that’s the bigger problem: the office is not the antagonist to distributed work.
The office is just a place. One place out of many where work can happen. And if that office happens to be a 15-min-walk away, most people won’t mind spending part of their day there.
What are you trying to achieve - emotionally?
As a product person, I love to use the JTBD framework (“jobs-to-be-done” - here’s a 5 min video that gives you the basics) to undertand what exactly a product or service is supposed to achieve. “To achieve” - not “to do”.
We do things, because we are invested in a specific outcome.
You buy a drill to make a hole to put up a picture in living room and show off your beautiful daugthers graduation picture. It’s not about the drill, it’s not about a hole. It’s about your memories from that specific day.
I pay for a subscription for an app to remind me about watering my plants to turn my living room into a jungle and improve the vibrancy of my work space (or - to be honest - to impress visitors). It’s not about the watering schedule, it’s about making a home.
So - as you are designing your workplace policy, what are you trying to achieve?
Do you want to achieve loyalty and belonging?
Are you all about equitable access to work?
Do you want to foster productivity and dedication?
Are you interested in close work relationships?
If you aren’t quite sure what your workplace activity should cater for - check your company values. They should give you at least an indication about what you value as place to work.
If you are absolutely and completely stuck, get a wheel of emotions and discover which emotions you want to foster - or which you want to steer pepole away from.
Do you want your employees to feel proud? Connected? Content?
Do you want to help them feel less panicked? Less insecure? Less annoyed?
How would work have to look like to achieve that? And how would work have to fit in with everything else that’s happening in your employees life?
Where, when, and how does work happen?
Maybe you are invested in close work-friendships with a strong community aspect. You believe that people should spend time together, and you also understand that neurodivergent people and those with care responsibilities might have a hard time spending as much time in-person. So you decide to focus on redesigning your office into a hub with open spaces as well as cozy pods where people can work without sensory overload. Maybe you add a kindergarten or afterschool activities to your offers or reduce the on-site workday to 6 hours a day - hiring only people who live under 30 min away from the office.
Or maybe you love the community aspect, and you want to keep your headquarters in region where talent is rare. So you decide to focus on remote work within your country - making sure people can meet up in person once or twice per months. You optimize for short bouts of intense get-togethers, making sure that those who can’t travel easily get the help they need.
Or maybe you prefer people to focus on work while at work - while encouraging them to find their social connections outside of work. You still make sure they are all working within the same timezone to optimize for fast decision making - something your venture backed startup needs.
Work requires flexibility. Remote work and non-linear workdays are one option to offer that flexibility. They aren’t the only options, and the office can have a place in this new way of working together. A place isn’t THE place though.
So - what are you trying to achieve with your workplace policy (other than optimizing the use of office space)?