Finding Balance: Between Home Office and Human Connection ☕💼

This week reminded me of something simple — and yet easy to forget.

Human connection doesn’t happen through screens. It happens in hallways, over coffee, and sometimes… at a hotel breakfast buffet. That’s where I saw a small sign that said:

“Be happy for no reason.”

It stuck with me. Because in German, we only have one word — “Glück” — for both being happy and being lucky. In English, there are two.

And that difference made me think: maybe happiness isn’t about luck at all. Maybe it’s about presence.

The Magic of Meeting in Person ✨

Earlier this week, I spent a day with my team in Hannover — and just a few days later, another in Erfurt. Two different cities, two different teams, one shared experience: connection. Many of the people I met, I had only seen in Teams meetings before. But meeting face-to-face changes everything.

You learn what motivates them, what challenges them, and what makes them laugh. Those are the small, invisible threads that build real teams — the kind of trust and understanding that can’t be scheduled into a 30-minute video call.

Erfurt itself was a highlight. The city’s old town, especially the Krämerbrücke, is a living piece of history — a handcrafted masterpiece of culture and tradition. Even our Capgemini office there feels symbolic: a beautiful old building full of people working on cutting-edge cloud solutions.

It’s a reminder that innovation and heritage aren’t opposites. They coexist — just like people do, when they meet and create together.

The Other Side of the Story 🏡💻

But let’s be honest: the home office changed everything. It gave us time back — for families, for quiet focus, for life. It allowed flexibility that most of us had only dreamed of before 2020.

Working from home means joining a call right after breakfast with your kids. It means being there when the delivery arrives or when school finishes early. It’s not just about convenience — it’s about presence at home.

So yes, being back in the office feels energizing. But the silence of the home office has its own value too.

The Real Challenge: Balance ⚖️

There’s no perfect formula. Too much remote work, and we risk becoming isolated bubbles of productivity. Too much office time, and we lose the focus, calm, and family life that remote work brought us. Finding balance isn’t about company policy or attendance percentages.

It’s about awareness — knowing what fuels you, your team, and your relationships. For me, weeks like this one show the best of both worlds: Deep work at home, deep connection in person.

And maybe that’s what that breakfast sign was really about. Happiness doesn’t depend on luck — or location. It comes from being intentional, wherever you are.

Stay clever. Stay responsible. Stay scalable.
Your Mr. Microsoft,
Uwe Zabel

🚀 Curious how cloud, culture, and connection shape the future of work? Follow my journey on zabu.cloud — where cloud, AI, and business strategy converge. Or ping me directly — because building the future works better as a team.