Thanks to [Volker](https://vowe.net/2022/04/09/ will-hybrid-work-last/), I read Mark Bergen’s article for bloomberg.com and would like to share a few thoughts on the following statement.

Two years into the pandemic, the older generation of executives — even those inside Silicon Valley — aren’t accustomed to managing workforces remotely. “Leaders find it really hard to lead virtually,” Bock said.

I am a manager myself. I have to lead a team remotely. I find remote leadership more difficult. I also enjoy working from home. I am said to have a modern management style, and I am happy for each of my employees to be able to work from home. Many are more productive there and can better balance their professional and private lives.

As a modern manager, you don’t just see your employees’ pure work performance, but also – consciously or unconsciously – how they behave and how they work with each other. Obviously, working from home has short-term advantages. But working from home also has disadvantages that are not immediately apparent because the changes are gradual.

Working from home has changed things! Even though we communicate with each other every day, we are more distant. Even though we still laugh, we laugh less. Even though we still get along well, misunderstandings occur more often. Even though not everyone may admit it, we are lonelier when working from home. At the same time, we are also more stressed when working from home. If our children or partners can communicate with us at any time, they will do so regardless of any agreements. The office helps us to separate our private lives from our professional lives. The office protects us to a certain extent from overload. The office is more social. The office connects people.

I have no idea what the best place to work will be after the pandemic. However, I am firmly convinced that working from home in the way we have done for the past two years will not make us happier in the long run.

From time to time, I wonder whether a self-determined place of work should not also be accompanied by a different working time model. If I can decide where and when I work, paying for hours worked makes less and less sense. Shouldn’t payment be based on performance instead? A performance-oriented working environment also makes work stricter, colder, and more distant. Is that the kind of working environment we want? For my part, I can say that I don’t. I like to laugh with my colleagues. I appreciate being reminded to take a break or having short, meaningless conversations at the coffee machine. Even a simple greeting in the hallway is more familiar than a conversation in a video conference. I consider going to the office essential if we want to maintain a certain closeness. If we lose that closeness, we lose the people and the culture.

The text was automatically translated from German into English. The German quotations were also translated in sense.