Forget return-to-office: your communication strategy is the real problem

The shift to remote work brought flexibility, reduced commuting stress, and increased productivity, yet many companies are pushing employees back to the office, citing culture and productivity concerns. However, remote work is here to stay, and the real challenge lies in effectively managing distributed teams. 

The Remote Work War: Why Employees Are Fighting Back

Despite the reported benefits of remote work, many companies are resisting this shift. Here’s why they’re fighting to bring employees back to the office:

• Control & Culture: Many leaders still believe that being present in person means being productive, but data has shown that's not always true.
• Commercial Real Estate Pressure: Empty office buildings are bad for landlords and local economies.
• The Commuter Economy: Industries built around office workers—restaurants, public transport, and real estate—are lobbying to bring them back.
• Old-School Management: Some leaders feel uneasy about remote oversight. They prefer old-fashioned monitoring methods instead of focusing on results.

But this approach doesn’t align with what employees actually want. Companies like Disney, Apple, Starbucks, and Amazon have faced major employee pushback—petitions, open letters, and even strikes—against rigid return-to-office policies.

The problem isn’t remote work. It’s that most companies have zero strategy for managing their dispersed teams. The solution isn’t bringing them back to the office. It’s making communication work for them—wherever they are.

For many of Thrive’s customers—logistics firms,  healthcare providers, construction firms, and manufacturing companies—the challenge isn’t just remote work, but managing dispersed teams across multiple locations, shifts, and job roles.

The key to success? A robust communication strategy that keeps every employee—whether desk-based or deskless—informed, engaged, and connected.

To build a truly flexible, engaged workforce, companies need to rethink how they communicate. Here’s the biggest mistakes you're making and how to fix them. 

MISTAKE #1: Assuming workers read their emails

Many dispersed teams don’t work behind a desk—they’re on the road, in warehouses, or working shifts. They're not checking their emails and they're not logging into the intranet. So why are you still sending them updates that way?

What Works Instead: A mobile-first approach that puts real-time updates in their hands—wherever they are.

The Thrive app delivers push notifications, instant updates, and two-way engagement. No corporate email needed.

Still scheduling back-to-back meetings? Constantly pinging employees for quick updates? That’s killing productivity.

Too many companies expect their teams to be “always on”—but in reality, this just leads to burnout, distractions, and wasted time. The most efficient businesses? They prioritise structured, asynchronous updates instead.

When to Use Each Approach 

Use Synchronous Communication (Real-Time) When:

• You need quick decisions or urgent problem-solving
• The topic requires real-time collaboration (ideas, debates)
• It's about team bonding or relationship-building

Use Asynchronous Communication When:

• You want to reduce unnecessary meetings
• Employees need deep work time without distractions
• Your team is distributed across different time zones
• You need to document information for future reference

Need a quick guide? Here’s a visual breakdown of when to use synchronous vs. asynchronous communication:

The Best Companies Use Both!

The most productive teams don’t rely on just one approach—they use a hybrid strategy. Synchronous communication is great for urgency and teamwork, but asynchronous updates keep work moving without constant interruptions.

How to Make the Switch to Asynchronous:

• Ditch unnecessary meetings. Use video messages like Loom for leadership updates instead, add these video updates straight into your latest updates or news within your employee app.
• Stop cluttering inboxes. Use structured documentation tools like Thrive's Digital Locker so employees can access key, personal information anytime in a secure place.
• Reduce constant pings. Push company-wide updates via a centralised employee app instead of flooding Slack or email threads.

Real productivity happens when employees can focus on their work—not on responding to notifications every five minutes.

For centuries, businesses have obsessed over when employees clock in and out. But in the age of remote and flexible work, tracking hours worked doesn’t tell you anything about actual performance.

Shift the focus from attendance to results:

• In logistics, track delivery success rates—not time spent in the depot.
• In healthcare, measure patient outcomes—not hours on shift.
• In customer service, evaluate resolution rates—not call duration.

If an employee can do in four hours what takes someone else eight, does it matter how long they sat at their desk? The best companies don’t reward time served—they reward results delivered.

“Our Drivers Were Out of the Loop—Now They’re More Connected Than Ever.”

That’s what DPD Ireland realised.

With 650 employees working across warehouses, depots, and delivery routes, traditional corporate tools weren’t cutting it. Emails? Useless. The intranet? Ignored.

So they ditched outdated systems and adopted a mobile-first strategy with Thrive. Here’s what happened:

• Outdated intranet? Gone. Replaced with an intuitive mobile-first platform.
• Drivers & depot workers? Connected. Real-time updates, no email required.
• Engagement & morale? Up. User-generated content brought the team together.
• Company culture? Stronger than ever. From head office to the road—everyone felt included.