Return to Office, Return to Teams

We got summoned back “for collaboration” and spent the day… on Teams. All the conference rooms were booked by single people taking video calls, so the rest of us “peasants” hunted for open “hotel” desks like musical chairs. Dock roulette (USB-C? HDMI? VGA??), a chair with 2.5 wheels, and Wi-Fi that drops the second someone microwaves fish.

Meanwhile every meeting invite still defaults to remote. Result: five people in the office, five on video, and fifteen minutes of “can you hear Denver?”

Facilities proudly says we have 80 seats for 120 badges “because hybrid.” Spoiler: badges don’t do work; people do.

If you want collaboration, give us somewhere to actually collaborate: phone booths for solo calls, a no-video zone, and project tables you can book as a team. Standard docks and monitors at every “hotel” desk. Real Wi-Fi, not vibes. And a policy: if the meeting is half in-person, half remote, it’s remote—everyone joins from their own device with headsets. Badge swipes aren’t a strategy; space that fits the work is.

-Kari