There is some interpersonal value to in-person work, but that’s entirely dependent on a culture that embraces that value in the first place. Team lunches, beers, bonding over idle chit chat, etc are all things that are easier in person, but I’ve found a pretty high correlation between managers who want to limit those things but also want people back at the office. And of course, you can have all of those things fully remote if you plan time for them.
The two best co-worker relationships I’ve had were with my desk mate and with someone in an entirely different city I only saw in-person once per year. Polar opposites.
The idea that the value of in-person work can’t be achieved remotely is held primarily by older generations who find it difficult themselves (hard to blame them, they know no other way and it’s hard to learn, but not impossible) and a subsection of younger (under 50) managers/owners/etc who are genuinely terrible at managing people and are kind of awful to be around in general, in my experience.
I have no issue putting in effort and showing up for the former as long as there is some mutual understanding there, even if unspoken. But the latter are losers.
|