What companies have learned about in-person time when work is flexible

Brian Elliott

Executive Advisor, Co-Founder, & Author

It’s time for our approach to fostering connection and cohesion to evolve, if nothing else to meet the needs of teams that are more distributed across geographies than ever before. Microsoft flipped from 61% of teams being co-located in 2019 to 64% being distributed across cities by 2022. The average at other companies is now as high as 80% of teams having members in different locations.

This shift demands a redesign of how we nurture workplace engagement and team dynamics. The experiences of companies like Allstate and Zillow offer valuable lessons on crafting meaningful interactions that bridge the physical distance among team members, driving increased engagement with only modest investments.

Quarterly gatherings: A proven strategy

Consistent findings across various organizations indicate that structured, quarterly gatherings significantly boost engagement. Unlike sporadic interactions or casual office encounters, these regular meetings are meticulously planned with clear objectives. Atlassian’s research underscores this point, revealing a 27% increase in engagement among people on teams that meet three or four times a year. This heightened engagement not only improves team morale, it also sustains it for months.

But at too many companies, funds promised to drive team-level connections were cut, leading to lower employee engagement.

Innovative and cost-effective approaches

Allstate shifted to a flexible work policy in the pandemic, shedding its suburban Chicago campus and investing in a dozen global connection pods to support its employees, 81% of whom are on distributed teams. At Allstate, teams set norms for how often they get together, down to sub-function levels. For example, marketing analysts might get together only once a month, while the brand design team works together two or three days a week.

In early 2023, Lauren DeYoung, who leads the “Future of Work” team at Allstate, led the charge on a $10 million investment aimed at fostering connection. By providing funds directly to mid-level leaders, teams could customize their approach with everything from simple events, like meals together, to Lego-building competitions. Some of the most unconventional were the most effective, like a virtual improv session one team hosted to sharpen storytelling skills.

The result of that modest investment of $180 per employee: over 3,000 employees participated and gave the program a 91% satisfaction rating. In the six months after implementation, employee willingness to recommend Allstate as a great place to work rose from 81% to 84%.

Zillow’s commitment to connection

Zillow has focused on connection since shifting in 2021 to its “Cloud HQ” approach, whereby most employees can opt for fully remote arrangements. It’s been a sizable shift: just under 50% of Zillow employees live within a 50-mile radius of an office in 2024, versus 99% back in 2019.

“If we’re going to be distributed, we will always also prioritize in-person connection,” says Corina Kolbe, vice president of Talent Success. The company reduced its physical office spaces, redesigning remaining locations and investing resources instead to support its “zRetreats.”

Zillow's annual retreats, now a staple of its corporate culture, are crafted by a dedicated team to maximize both individual and team growth. These retreats have evolved based on feedback and experimentation, increasing the number ninefold in 2023 and driving increased employee engagement—while spending less than they did on their past office setup.

But there was one clear gap: connecting people across functions. So, in 2024, Zillow’s plan is to drive fewer but bigger sessions, over two times the average size in 2023.

Investing in continual improvement

What Allstate and Zillow are doing differs but they both know that being flexible in where people work doesn’t mean that in-person connection goes out the window. The modest investments they’ve made in small teams to build better organizational work practices, redesigned spaces, and funds for teams are paying off—and in both cases are more than covered by a decrease in overall office space.

More importantly, they’re learning what works for them. None of the firms I’ve talked with expect to ever be “done” experimenting, iterating and learning which investments work best.

Companies like Allstate, Atlassian, and Zillow get that the “future of work” doesn’t arrive, it’s built by those who invest in making it happen.