How to Make Face-to-Face Work: 5 Ways

Five years later, the return-to-office debate isn’t much of a debate anymore. If you have a job, you’re in the office—and increasingly, you’re there full-time.  

Data from our latest World’s Most Admired Companies report shows that nearly 60% of workers globally are back in the office full-time. Mandates, however, aren’t the reason. Nearly half of WMAC workers and one-quarter of all others say they find office time collaborative, and that the quality of their work benefits from being with colleagues.  

The flip side is that there are many other people back in the office who aren’t able to benefit from increased face time with colleagues and bosses. And amid AI transformation, making human connections is more important than ever. Or as Colleen Cox, a principal on Korn Ferry’s Organizational Strategy team, puts it, “The benefit of in-person interaction is really all the nonwork connections that influence and impact work collaboration.” 

Cox says it’s about more than networking or self-promotion. “It’s about gaining an understanding of why and how colleagues work the way they work.” With that in mind, we asked our experts for tips on making the most out of engaging face-to-face. Here’s what they said. 

Go with the flow.

Coming back into the office more often will create some changes in how each person approaches their allocation of time and capacity, says Ryan Frechette, an associate principal with Korn Ferry Advance. “Take the time to see how your boss and others are adjusting to their schedules,” he says. If you better understand how their day flows relative to yours, you can spark more natural face time.  

Don’t ask about the weekend.

There’s nothing wrong with small talk, except for the fact that most people hate it. Instead of asking about the weather or weekend plans, experts suggest being more intentional about small talk. Try asking about what they are working on or if they have any projects coming up they are particularly excited about. “That can help you better understand people’s motivations, values, and perspectives,” says Cox.  

Strengthen weak ties.

Everyone has that person—on their team or in their department—that they know by face and little else. Organizational psychologists call those connections “weak ties,” and say that investing time in strengthening them can connect you to different work circles and open up new avenues of information and opportunity. If your office is open concept or “hot desk,” for instance, try sitting in a different spot once or twice a week. Or take a coffee break on a different floor to expose you to colleagues you otherwise wouldn’t interact with.  

Follow the 15-minute rule.

Time is our most precious commodity, so be conscious of it when booking meetings. Treat in-office face time like an elevator pitch, say experts, and ask for a “quick check-in” or “a few minutes of your time to get some advice on a project.” Not everyone has an hour to spare for lunch or a meeting with a colleague they don’t know, but they most likely have 15 minutes, says Frechette. “In-office face time is at a premium, so the focus of one-on-one meetings should be on outcomes,” says Frechette. 

Make RTO purposeful.

On the leadership side, one of the biggest complaints people have about RTO is that they spend most of their time on calls or in virtual meetings they could just as easily do at home. Korn Ferry senior client partner Mark Royal says that this fuels frustration and disengagement. The difference between WMACs and their peers, he says, is that “WMACs make returning to the office purposeful and worth it.” He advises managers to create more opportunities for collaboration and strategic thinking by creating smaller breakout teams and investing in talent-development strategies that benefit from employees’ physical presence.  

Learn more about Korn Ferry’s Leadership and Professional Development capabilities.  

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