A 4-step framework for returning to the office
A new framework for hybrid work models offers ideas for managers at Gillette. But it can be applied at any company
Source | mitsloan.mit.edu | Meredith Somers
Whether a multinational corporation or a small business with a half-dozen desks, the question many companies are asking is: How do we go back to the office?
The managers who oversee the 1,300 Massachusetts employees working for Gillette are asking themselves that question. And a trio of MIT Sloan Action Learning students have an answer in the form of a four-step framework they developed in a project with Gillette, the shaving brand owned by Procter & Gamble.
“It gives managers a clear, easy-to-follow plan for how departments or teams can best engage when some employees are in the office and others are virtual,” said MIT Sloan lecturer the faculty mentor for the student team — part of Enterprise Management Lab.
The four steps to the framework are:
- Identify the key metrics that are vital to a company’s success.
- Identify the optimal in-office days to maximize the efficacy of every metric.
- Rank the metrics for every step of the product lifeline.
- Use a weighted average to determine the optimal number of days in the office for each step of the product lifeline.
While not every team or company is focused on a product launch, there is some type of deliverable to meet, which can serve as the “product” in the third step of the framework.
