What You Need to Know Before Heading Back to the Office

It was the socially distanced snacks that made me stop and think. I had smiled at the security guards and waltzed through the temperature checks and newly modified, one-way doors of Bloomberg’s London offices. But at 7 a.m. on an empty stomach, food is hard to ignore. The breakfast cereal dispensers were gone, replaced by individually wrapped portions; on a nearby countertop, a half-dozen bananas were arranged around the edge of a large platter. Below were granola bars and potato chips, keeping well apart on half-empty shelves. Inadequately sanitized hands would struggle to cross-contaminate this Covid-19-secure zone.

For many employers, working from home remains the norm at all levels of the organization. Yet, after four months working from a home office that, while nicely set up, offers me a good view only of the beige bricks of a garage wall, my mind had begun to wander. I didn’t exactly miss my hour-long bike-plus-train commute every morning and evening. But I did miss London, and I did miss seeing colleagues. And I missed the snacks.