I can’t imagine working in an office full-time ever again…

The morning commute, dealing with traffic, having to actually talk to other human beings…

YIKES!

But if it ever happens, I guess I can take a page out of this person’s book.

Check out what happened…

Return to office to increase productivity?

“I was recruited by an IT Multi National Corporation (MNC) during Covid. My manager is extremely chill and an outstanding leader.

My grandfather (manager’s manager) is a stickler for rules. For the purpose of this post, I will address my manager as Sam & my grandfather as Murad. I work as infrastructure and configuration manager.

Work passes through my gate first, and if I don’t pass it, it doesn’t go to the next team.

They’re kind of clueless…

I act as a choking point of sorts, and any dip in my productivity becomes several folds down the line. However, apart from Sam, management is blissfully unaware of this dependency.

When I joined, there was no office in my city. My joining was at a city over 1,100 miles away.

All joining formalities were done online. Since then I have never been to the office, except for a 2 weeks’ workshop, for which I was flown in by the company.

3 months ago, a new office has opened up in my city with just 14 people, my official location was transferred here to show the minimum number 15 required to open an office as per bylaws.

We are an IT MNC that provides service to an automotive corporation. My work is completely remote, so I never need to go to the office. I also really enjoy WFH.

The company started elective work from office last year & hybrid at the beginning of this year, but everything was mostly dependent on Manager’s approval.

There were some changes…

Sam is onsite in a different country. He has never asked any team member to work from office. Murad on the other hand, expects everyone to return to the office full time. Usually we are protected from this by Sam.

Recently Sam has transferred to a different team in the same project, and a different guy is now managing our team. Sam remains as my manager, but I no longer get to collaborate with him on my work, which is a huge bummer. The new guy is new to the company and easily swayed by Murad.

Murad is originally from my city and decides to come back to his city to oversee the new office. The first thing he decides is everyone in this city should work from office.

The other 14 are not affected, as they were already working from office. They work with specialized hardware that is only available at the office. The only one affected is me.

They tried to plead their case.

I try to tell him that this will reduce my productivity.

He is not convinced.

I discuss my situation with Sam. He sympathizes, but is not in a position to do something about it.

Now, I am a tall guy with several orthopedic challenges. I need my workstation & chair of specific dimensions. At home, I have set it up over the last 3 years, but setting the same thing up at a new office is troublesome.

However, I have been ordered to return to the office.

Cue MC.

This was gonna be interesting…

On my first day at the office (~16 days ago), I talk to the building manager and present him with my workstation requirements.

Each requirement mentions the corresponding OSHA violation if not adhered to. He tells me it will take 45-60 days to create/acquire my workstation up to the standards mentioned.

I spend the next 2 weeks at the office relaxation zone, which has a chair on which I can be seated without hurting my back. However, it is not a work-desk, so while I am at the office, I cannot work.

Wouldn’t you know it…?

Suddenly everything is running really slow.

Teams are sitting idly because work is stalled at my gate. There are biweekly deliveries across multiple milestones. About 6-12 deliveries every month.

We miss 7 deliveries during that window.

Murad is mad, but has no idea why things are stalled. The new manager is also confused.

This is escalated to the CEO and he asks Sam to consult for his old project to see what went wrong.

It takes Sam 30 mins to realize that my gate is stalled. He asks me on teams to join the call to discuss what’s wrong. I am obviously not on my laptop.

It takes a lot of back and forth, but eventually Murad himself gets out of his room and searches for me. However, the office relaxation zone is on a different floor.

This is pretty funny…

He cannot find me, and decides to have a separate call the next day. He exits the call and catches me on my mobile.

The conversation goes like this:

Murad: Where are you? I couldn’t find you in our floor. Can you please come to my room?

Me: Sure. I come to his room and tell him what the issue is.

Murad: Why didn’t you tell me this 2 weeks ago?

Me: I did. I told you making me come to the office will reduce my productivity. And the workstation issue is a building manager issue, it has nothing to do with you, hence I did not inform you. My manager knows about it (I had informed Sam when I joined the company).

Murad: Please work from home until your workstation is ready.

Next day, which was last Friday, I am WFH.

The call with Sam happens before lunch. CEO joins the call as well. Sam asks me why things are stalled at my gate.

Here’s the deal…

Before I say anything, Murad jumps in and says that it was a minor issue and that work will be cleared fast. But CEO wants to know what’s what. So I present my case. Sam agrees with me when I mention my condition.

He also mentions that this was specifically mentioned in his handover to the new manager when he left the team. I am then asked to leave the call and go back to my work.

There’s more…

After lunch, there is another call among Murad, Sam, building manager and me. Building Manager informs us that it will cost the company ~$2,500 to set up my workstation.

Since it is a non-standard workstation, it needs to be placed in its separate room.

Room will be charged at $20,000 annually. It will take 30 days to get everything ready if we decide to go ahead. Murad tells me he will let me know what is decided by coming Tuesday.

It’s Sunday today, and I decided to write this up after I received a call from Sam in the morning.

Apparently, Murad is done working in his city and will go back next week. I can continue working from home.

My workstation, chair and separate room will be ready by the end of next month, and I am welcome to work from office whenever I want.”

And now let’s see what folks said on Reddit.

This reader shared their thoughts.

Another individual had a story to tell.

This person chimed in.

Another reader was impressed.

If the system can be worked, work the system!

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.