Hybrid Work and How Family Offices View Office

Productivity at Home

The rise of remote work was already on the rise, but covid accelerated its adoption. At first, many companies were surprised that employees could be just as productive, or even more so, working from home. Technology bridged the communication and collaboration gap, and employees happily embraced newfound flexibility. However, productivity levels began to fluctuate over time, revealing that remote work isn’t perfect, requires effort, and doesn’t suit all industries or business stages equally.

Productivity levels also vary depending on the type of work you do. Collaboration, team building, and celebrations are typically better done in person. Routine meetings and most work that can be done with asynchronous communication can easily be done remotely.

The general consensus was that companies should determine what drives their productivity gains. As long as they deliver on their KPIs, most family offices don’t mind where the work gets done. Given their typically hands-off approach, this perspective wasn’t surprising.

Remote Company Culture

The collective mindset and environment of a company is often considered a make-or-break factor for business success, and this holds true within the family office ecosystem. Portfolio companies are expected not only to deliver financial returns but also to align with the broader values and vision of the family office.

Building and maintaining culture remotely is challenging. Virtual town halls, company retreats, and Slack channels can help. However, they often fall short of replicating the serendipitous moments that happen in hallways, during lunch, or at happy hours. These moments are crucial for building trust and creating professional chemistry.

Some leaders argue that culture isn’t about proximity. It’s about purpose and clarity. Companies with strong leadership can develop a strong culture remotely if they are deliberate about maintaining connection and alignment among the disbursed teams.

To me, culture is defined by the behaviors a company permits or prohibits. For example, if co-founders take tequila shots every Wednesday afternoon, it becomes an acceptable part of the company culture. In a fully remote setup, activities like this one may not be feasible, but does it weaken the culture? The answer is in how important certain elements of culture building are to that company.

Company Stage

Everyone recognizes that workplace preferences are not one-size-fits-all. Early-stage companies often find being in the same room essential. Founders need to be able to read the room, motivate each other, and rally their teams around a shared mission.

Remote setups can slow this process. Rallying the team virtually may feel equally productive, but multiple studies show that brain activity decreases when people interact over Zoom compared to in person.

In contrast, companies that have scaled often have the infrastructure to support remote or hybrid work models. At this stage, flexibility becomes a competitive advantage, helping attract top talent who value work-life balance.

Generational Divide

Although older generations are accustomed to traditional office setups, many have happily embraced remote work and aren’t interested in returning to the office. Younger leaders, as digital natives, are very comfortable collaborating remotely through tools like Slack, Zoom, and others.

That said, I don’t believe the office preference is generational. Individual preferences vary too much to categorize an entire generation under a single perspective. Issues like social isolation may have generational nuances, but the real question isn’t whether the office can alleviate isolation. It’s whether office preferences themselves are generational.

Talent Acquisition

Over the last decade, workers have increasingly prioritized flexibility, mental health, and meaningful work over salary. For companies, this means competing on more than just title and pay. Alignment with employees’ work preferences is also important these days.

Offering remote options can help attract and retain top talent, but remember that many top players prefer the office. These individuals thrive in face-to-face interactions and are more productive in a traditional office environment. A remote company won’t be the right fit for them.

The real challenge for established companies is balancing these preferences. Whether you go fully remote, fully in-office, or adopt a hybrid approach, some team members will feel happy and others dissatisfied. I think more companies need to rip the band-aid off and figure out what kind of company they want to be so their team is on the same page. Otherwise, they’re not making anyone happy.

Cost Savings

Cost efficiency was a key consideration for some family offices. Leases, utilities, and commuting-related perks are expensive, and remote work significantly reduces these costs, freeing up capital for other initiatives. However, remote work isn’t free, and companies need to make investments in technology, corporate retreats, and full-day meeting room bookings.

Net, net, fully remote companies save money. Hybrid work models aren’t so simple and can be equally expensive as traditional office setups. Whether your team uses the office one day a week or five, you still pay the same rent. Although you may require less square footage, the need to accommodate everyone on peak days persists.

I think more companies will move toward coworking and shared workspace models. Studies and CFO surveys consistently show that coworking spaces save money on real estate. Even before covid, highly efficient businesses only utilized 70% of their office space. On top of that, long-term leases made it hard to adapt to changing headcounts, leading to poor space utilization.

Hybrid Work Evolution

How we utilize office space has evolved drastically in the last 100 years. We went from a mixed-use industrial-era office to now the hybrid model. We don’t know what the future holds and most believe hybrid is the future.

However, hybrid work setups are very complex and require careful planning to make teams work well together. For example, employees who come into the office more frequently may form closer bonds with leadership, while remote employees risk feeling excluded, undermining the hybrid model.

Office Verdict?

Do family offices care where their portfolio companies work? For the most part, no. What they care about is whether the chosen work model supports the company’s goals and delivers results.

Of course, this perspective reflects a small subset of voices. Do VCs, PEs, or board members share the same views? I plan to explore these questions in future conversations.

The big question is which model leads to better financial performance. Right now, we don’t have enough data to prove whether remote, hybrid, or in-office work is better for a company’s performance because companies are still filled with talent that has conflicting views on this. The closest thing we have is when someone says, “I’m more productive working from home,” but that’s a subjective and biased take.

For what it’s worth, I’m personally a fan of being in the office. My ideal setup is four days a week in the office. That one day at home boosts my productivity and gives me time to slow down, think, and reflect. But if I stay home too much, I get lazy and lose productivity. The office puts me in go-mode. It also helps me separate work from home, which is better for my overall wellbeing.

Office interactions also make my relationships with the team less transactional. Genuine human bonds create a stronger emotional connection to the company and its mission. That being said, the physical space needs to change and support the new way of working.