I have been thinking about what in-person presence means for leaders, teams, and culture.
Over the past five years, organizations have learned that remote work can preserve productivity and offer flexibility. Yet there is growing evidence that fully virtual models cannot replace the kind of human connection and creative friction that happen when people are physically together.
What the Research Shows
Hybrid work typically means that employees spend certain days each week in the office and the rest working remotely. This model gives people flexibility while maintaining intentional time together for collaboration and culture building.
Large field studies and randomized experiments find that hybrid schedules, where employees spend some days at home and other days together in person, do not generally harm performance and often increase retention and job satisfaction. These findings support hybrid models as a pragmatic middle path, not a compromise.
At the same time, experimental work shows that there are cognitive limits to working through a screen. Researchers comparing idea generation online with face-to-face collaboration found that videoconferencing narrows focus and reduces the variety of ideas that teams produce.
In short, overuse of screens can impair creative thinking.
That matters because innovation is not just a metric. When teams cannot brainstorm freely, they lose a creative muscle that is hard to rebuild purely online.
If you are an executive, board member, or shareholder considering a permanent move to fully virtual operations, here are three realities to weigh.
Reality 1: Digital Connection ≠ Real Intimacy
Leadership is built on repeated moments of building trust. Those moments often happen in hallways, seated alongside each other, and over lunches where context is shared with fewer filters. Online tools can connect us across distances, but they cannot replace looking another person in the eye. And no amount of quiet, productive work can substitute for the energy and understanding that emerge when people share physical space and time together.
Reality 2: Hybrid Designs are Research Backed
Multiple studies from academic institutions, including Stanford University, recommend hybrid models because they preserve deep work time while enabling in-person sessions for collaboration, training, onboarding, and culture building.
The hybrid model can be designed intentionally so that the office becomes a culture space where connection and cross-pollination are prioritized, not a place for rote tasks. That intentionality is what separates a meaningful hybrid approach from an accidental one.
At The Global Good Fund, our impact ecosystem operates in this way. Across our three impact avenues, including The Global Good Fund’s leadership development programs, Global Good x Amani, and the Global Impact Fund, we work remotely and come together intentionally throughout the year. These moments of in-person presence deepen trust, strengthen partnerships, and align our collective purpose.
Reality 3: Presence is Measurably Valuable
Research published in 2024 by IZA Newsroom found that teams who meet in person periodically outperform fully remote teams on measures of creativity and idea generation. When leaders schedule in-person sprints, immersive workshops, or dedicate core days for collaborative work, they create predictable rhythms that amplify serendipity. Those rhythms help newer employees learn social norms faster and keep mentorship from becoming a series of awkward calendar invites.
My Perspective
Remote days are a lifeline for parents, caregivers, and employees managing dual responsibilities. As a parent of three young children, I know how vital flexible work policies are. They allow caregivers to attend therapies, handle school appointments, manage extracurriculars, and show up for family on hard days.
So what should leaders do to get the most value from teams who are employees with responsibilities that extend beyond the workplace?
Start with intent.
Managing expectations matters immensely. Employees, clients, donors, and investors all benefit when there is clarity from the outset about when and how often we meet in person. Clear expectations create accountability, reduce friction, and ensure that each gathering delivers value.
Make in-person days purposeful. Train managers to measure outcomes that matter, not hours. Invest in rotational in-person schedules and cover travel stipends.
Then ask yourself: what message do we send about commitment and care when we choose a location policy? Presence is more than physical proximity. Presence is about being available to notice the small misalignments, to mentor without an agenda, and to model a culture that values both excellence and human needs.
In Short
Managing expectations for the frequency of in-person presence is critical to delivering value, no matter the type of work environment. Leaders who decide to go fully virtual should do so with clarity about the losses they accept and build new rituals to compensate for lost human cues. Those who choose hybrid or otherwise flexible models build trust by setting clear expectations for when in-person presence is required and design those moments with purpose so that every gathering is impactful.
Because at the end of the day, presence is not nostalgic. Presence is strategic.
How are you designing presence in your organization?