RTO: Not just another day at the office

Thousands of state workers are returning to their offices half-time this week after teleworking fulltime. They were following Governor Walz’s Return to Office (RTO) mandate requiring them to work from the office at least 50 percent of the time beginning June 1. 

The first week seems to be going as smoothly as a return to office without proper time to prepare could go: work groups not seated together for better collaboration, missing equipment, communications not being relayed to all employees, reservation systems not working as smoothly as hoped and other issues. 

A MNIT employee working at the Stassen Building said there were no issues with space at that location so far but noted there was no in-person collaboration. “The people I am collaborating with are not in the office – they’re in different agencies and we’ll never participate in in-person meetings. While in the office, there were a bunch of people sitting in their cubicles listening to a Teams call with other people at home listening to the same call. We spent the day making calls from our desks, which is what I’m doing today as I work from home,” they said.  

A Department of Human Services employee reported equipment problems in their building. There were no monitors on their desk, while some coworkers had monitors on their desks but were issued the wrong docking stations. Four people were assigned to the same cubicle at a Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) office in central Minnesota. 

Another member watched a seminar as they sat in an empty training room at a St. Paul agency. They said there was no time, space or opportunity to do uninterrupted deep work that is needed to complete a project deadline. When they arrived at the office the next morning, the site was locked. They had not received prior notice that there is a protocol/checklist for first in/last out. They were the only team member present for most of the time, making collaborative time moot.  

Region 20 Negotiations Representative Gabe Perkins wondered where everyone was in his Department of Transportation office in Rochester. “There were no leaders there to welcome staff back. In fact, most of the staff came in the office were on Teams calls or their office doors were closed. If we are to collaborate, how can we do that when all the conference rooms are blocked and not able to be reserved as the conference room technology is being updated the whole month of June. In addition, most of the Human Resources staff are in St Cloud this week for meetings.”   

Perkins said it reminded him of a saying his grandmother used to share, common sense is not that common. “As a taxpayer, I am disappointed. Gov. Walz and his management staff are taking us back to the 1950s. They’re failing to demonstrate common sense and continuing to spend limited resources foolishly.”