The Great Return To Office Debate: Does It Really Drive Collaboration?

By Emily - Mindful Career Journey

Return-to-office (RTO) mandates have been back in the spotlight, with leaders pushing for in-person work to boost collaboration. 

Here’s the real question:  Does it actually work when teams are distributed across the country and/or globe, while spending their days on virtual calls anyway?

For many professionals, the reality of RTO is far from the idealized vision of spontaneous hallway, water cooler conversations and whiteboard brainstorming. 

Instead, it often means:

🚗 Long, exhausting commutes just to sit on virtual calls from a cubicle.
📞 Virtual collaboration remains the norm because key team members are remote.
🏠 Personal flexibility is stripped away, increasing stress and reducing productivity.

✨Company perk/benefit taken away, increasing commuting expenses. 

The result? Anxiety, frustration, and yes - burnout.

Before enforcing RTO or even hybrid models, leaders must ask:

🔹 Is in-office time solving a real problem, or just about visibility?
🔹 Do employees actually work with others in their location, or are key stakeholders remote?
🔹 Will the commute and office environment add value or just stress?
🔹 How does this impact employee well-being, engagement, productivity, and retention?

Mandates without strategy create resentment, not results.  Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, companies should prioritize outcomes over optics.

⚡ True collaboration isn’t about where we work, but how we work together.