Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
For a long time, we treated the office as the hub of company culture. Proximity, spontaneous chats, and shared spaces were assumed to be the glue. But the pandemic upended that idea and exposed a deeper truth. Culture isn’t about where we sit. It’s about how we work.
If your culture was built by osmosis, it likely struggled under distance. But if you want a culture that lasts and scales, it must be intentionally designed into the work itself.
The End of the Office = Culture Equation
We have to move beyond equating office presence with cultural strength. Floorplans and physical presence don’t automatically equal values. Many of the most celebrated aspects of in-office culture weren’t universally experienced — hallway chats and happy hours didn’t include everyone equally.
As Mark Dixon, founder and CEO of International Workplace Group, said in our conversation on The Future of Less Work podcast:
“No one talks to them. They just sit there. They know their neighbors, but there isn’t any effort to communicate. Communication is happening by chance and that’s the real change with technology: don’t do things by chance. Coffee machine conversations? Curate it.”
Anyone who’s worked remotely for a global company knows the feeling of being disconnected from HQ, struggling to contribute meaningfully while others benefit from in-room collaboration and informal cues.
Trust and influence don’t flow naturally when you’re on the outside.
Once you stop assuming culture lives in a location, you begin asking better questions: How do we build connection intentionally? What practices make people feel included? How do we create culture that travels with people, not places?
Culture Is a System, Not a Place
Culture must be embedded into the rhythm of work, not just in moments of physical gathering. It’s not enough to improve in-person experiences. Organizations need to build systems and rituals that foster connection across time zones and locations.
That means designing experiences for when we’re not together; leveraging tools that support collaboration and building shared routines that reinforce community.
As Dixon noted:
“Manchester United has hundreds of millions of supporters all over the world. They’ve never visited the Football Ground. They’ve never been to England. But they support the branding, the team, and the people. They feel part of it. Having never met anything else.”
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The same is possible in business. Think of culture as emotional alignment, shared language, consistent practices — not a shared building. That’s not coincidence. That’s strategy.
Managers Are the Carriers of Culture
When the walls came down, middle managers stepped up. No longer buffered by top-down visibility, culture began to flow through micro-moments in one-on-ones, Slack messages, Zoom calls.
Empowered managers became more accessible and visible, creating new pathways for inclusion and engagement. The shift wasn’t just about going remote. It was about redefining how culture is carried.
Managers, embedded in day-to-day workflows, have become the de facto stewards of culture. Their actions—how they check in, how they respond, what they prioritize—shape how culture is felt. Culture is what’s lived, not laminated.
A Remote-First Mindset, Regardless of Location
You don’t have to be fully remote to think remote-first. The principle is simple: design every aspect of work, from onboarding to communication, as if no one is in the same room.
This forces organizations to think more inclusively. When you stop relying on proximity, you start creating equitable systems that work for everyone. That means clear communication channels, equal access to decision-making, and tools that support a wide range of needs.
Even if your team is mostly co-located, a remote-first approach ensures that key interactions aren’t reserved for the few who are in the right place at the right time.
From Presence to Participation
This is the core of the transformation. We’re moving from cultures based on attendance to ones based on engagement.
The office still plays a role — it can be a gathering space, a creative hub — but it’s no longer the beating heart of culture. What matters now is how leaders foster participation, how decisions are communicated, and whether employees feel seen and valued.
Are people included? Do they feel psychologically safe? Do they see the company’s values in action? These are today’s culture signals.
Culture isn’t something people absorb passively. It’s something they help build. And that means leadership needs to focus on creating clarity, cohesion, and human connection at every level.
It’s in every meeting. Every message. Every moment that tells someone: you matter.
The best employees show up not just because they’re told to, but because they believe in what they’re building.
So build a culture that’s portable. One that shows up wherever your people are — and stays with them, wherever they go.
