The CEO who introduced the term 'coffee badging' believes it should not carry a negative connotation.

Not everyone is happy that the secret about coffee badging has been revealed.

The practice of going into the office for a few hours to show face before completing the rest of the workday from home or another location became popular in the past year, as a 2023 report revealed that a majority of hybrid workers engaged in this behavior.

According to Owl Labs' latest report, the percentage of individuals working remotely decreased from 58% to 44% in the past year.

70% of workers have been caught coffee badging by their bosses, and 16% are now required to be in the office for the full day.

A majority of coffee badgers, 59%, reported that their boss is not opposed to their behavior.

"Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, believes that coffee badging should not have a negative connotation. He says he does it too and being strategic about in-office time involves meeting with colleagues, mentoring employees, being mentored, or engaging in other collaboration activities. According to Weishaupt, it doesn't matter if the in-office time is a two- to three-hour period."

Weishaupt claims to have reversed the coffee badging process by starting his day from home, driving to the office during mid-day to avoid morning traffic, and completing the rest of his day at home.

""The traditional eight-hour workday from the office is becoming less relevant as flexibility in terms of when you work becomes the new standard," he said to CNBC Make It last year."

According to Weishaupt, the difference in the enforcement of return-to-office requirements between managers and their reports signals a "massive inequality."

On the contrary, coffee badging can enhance productivity, according to him, by motivating teams to evaluate their schedules and prioritize in-person collaboration over independent work time.

Office workers are taking control of their time

To safeguard their time from distractions while on-site, workers use calendar blocking when they report to the office.

While 58% of employees set aside time on their calendars for focused work and to avoid being drawn into meetings, this practice is more prevalent among full-time office workers (64%) than among hybrid (28%) and remote (8%) employees.

According to Weishaupt, in-office workers are more likely to indicate and block their focused time, which raises the question of whether that time needs to be spent in a specific location, such as an office.

"He explains that when he checks his calendar weekly, he finds instances where he requires in-person collaboration rather than virtual meetings. However, there are also times when he can work independently and may not need to be physically present in the office."

Studies have revealed that office mandates have little impact on company success and can harm employee satisfaction. In contrast, businesses with hybrid and flexible schedules positively affect employee performance, financial performance, and overall wellbeing.

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