One of the ongoing discussions in the companies I work with is whether we should return to the office full time or continue to work remotely. Although I can recognize the arguments for both positions, I must admit that I often feel uncomfortable with those advocating for a return to the office. For all the claims of improved innovation and productivity, I can’t shake the impression that it’s more concerned with control and the completely outdated pseudo-metric of perceived busyness as a metric for productivity. If we really want improved innovation and productivity, we need to cancel the numerous meetings that people waste their lives in, the constant distraction due to online messaging and email and all the other time sinks that stop people from being productive and innovative. The best leadership that I have experienced sets a clear, valuable and purposeful goal and gets out of the way. If you don’t trust your people, something is broken and no meeting, check-in, ping or presence requirement is going to fix that. So, my question is whether you trust your team? And if not, what are you going to do about it?