You made a great point, "Every business is different." Very true. In the case of Dimon, he is the boss. Simple as that. If he says everyone comes into the office, then they had better do it or get fired. I suspect one big driver for many of these companies is that they are sitting on a lot of real estate they lease or own so they can't just let them sit empty and they decide they want them staffed in person again. Maybe as leases come up they will transition to some sort of hybrid model, but that's just speculation. The reality is, his Board of Directors have empowered him to run the company as he sees fit. Just like I run my company as I see fit.
I've worked in corporate in the office environments and environments where I was heavily remote with travel to customer sites so I see both sides. I also wrote contracts for IT outsourcing opportunities while at IBM. Our general rule when calculating how many people it would take to do a particular project was 65% productivity. 65%. This is because people in the office will for sure wander around and socialize etc. That's reality like it or not. I chose to have my company be 100% remote and we have team members in other countries. This works well for us and for me it comes down to if I have to micromanage you and/or I don't trust you to do you job, then you are not a good fit and I will terminate you. Simple as that.
My personal belief is many PM companies are totally bloated when it comes to office space. Often I go pick up a Security Deposit check and keys from PM companies that we are taking over the manage of a house from and I walk into these really nice office spaces and immediately think to myself "hell they must be spending $2000-$4000 (or even more!) in rent each month. F that, I want that money in my pocket.
There are plenty of people who can function at a high level and be remote. My BDM works from home and goes out into the field to meet potential clients. The potential clients NEVER ask to meet at the office because what's that point. Meet at the property you will be managing.
My 2 assistant PM's are in the field managing turnovers so they need to be going by those houses, not sitting in some fancy office.
I can go on and on but that's enough for now! Great article and I have read the World is Flat. It should be required reading for everyone in this country. Innovate or get left behind.
You made a great point, "Every business is different." Very true. In the case of Dimon, he is the boss. Simple as that. If he says everyone comes into the office, then they had better do it or get fired. I suspect one big driver for many of these companies is that they are sitting on a lot of real estate they lease or own so they can't just let them sit empty and they decide they want them staffed in person again. Maybe as leases come up they will transition to some sort of hybrid model, but that's just speculation. The reality is, his Board of Directors have empowered him to run the company as he sees fit. Just like I run my company as I see fit.
I've worked in corporate in the office environments and environments where I was heavily remote with travel to customer sites so I see both sides. I also wrote contracts for IT outsourcing opportunities while at IBM. Our general rule when calculating how many people it would take to do a particular project was 65% productivity. 65%. This is because people in the office will for sure wander around and socialize etc. That's reality like it or not. I chose to have my company be 100% remote and we have team members in other countries. This works well for us and for me it comes down to if I have to micromanage you and/or I don't trust you to do you job, then you are not a good fit and I will terminate you. Simple as that.
My personal belief is many PM companies are totally bloated when it comes to office space. Often I go pick up a Security Deposit check and keys from PM companies that we are taking over the manage of a house from and I walk into these really nice office spaces and immediately think to myself "hell they must be spending $2000-$4000 (or even more!) in rent each month. F that, I want that money in my pocket.
There are plenty of people who can function at a high level and be remote. My BDM works from home and goes out into the field to meet potential clients. The potential clients NEVER ask to meet at the office because what's that point. Meet at the property you will be managing.
My 2 assistant PM's are in the field managing turnovers so they need to be going by those houses, not sitting in some fancy office.
I can go on and on but that's enough for now! Great article and I have read the World is Flat. It should be required reading for everyone in this country. Innovate or get left behind.
One of my first questions with new consulting clients is almost always “why on earth are you paying for this massive office space?”