#collaboration

Now that we’re all back in the office four days a week, we’ve started noticing something interesting: there are a whole lot of headphones out there.

And listen, I get it. Sometimes you need to focus. Sometimes Teams is lighting up like a Christmas tree, your inbox is acting like it has a personal grudge, and you just need to put your head down and get through it. We are not trying to outlaw concentration, peace, or the occasional musical escape from reality.

But if everybody has headphones on all day, we may have accidentally recreated remote work, except now we added fluorescent lights, badge access, and a commute.

The goal of being in the office together is to make it easier to collaborate. That means quick questions, hallway conversations, shared problem-solving, and those little “hold on, I know who can help with that” moments that save everyone from three meetings and a mystery spreadsheet.

So in the spirit of encouraging more cross-team collaboration, USB headphones issued for Teams calls will need to be returned at the front desk. Going forward, Teams calls taken in the office will be expected to use speakerphone whenever possible. This helps keep conversations open, accessible, and aligned with the collaborative environment we are trying to build.

We want to make sure we’re using our in-office time to actually connect with the folks around us, not just sit near each other while everyone broadcasts “do not disturb” from the ears up.

So let’s keep an ear open, say hello to the people around us, and make the office feel a little less like a silent library and a little more like a team.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4600557-ibm-google-team-up-to-provide-agentic-ai-solutions-to-enterprises

It certainly looks like IBM is exiting “enterprise cloud solutions”

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/foxconn-announces-strategic-collaboration-with-intel-next-gen-ai-infrastructure-2026-06-04/

I ended up getting formal performance feedback not long after suggesting during a meeting that product planning would probably run smoother if a few departments worked together earlier in the process. A mistake I won't be making twice, that's for sure.

I have been thinking a lot about ai and sw eng. work.... been doing it now for almost 3 decades... the productvity gains are real. code moves faster - test cases are easier, documenting takes less effort... and research that used to take hrs happens more quickly.

at the same time, engineering has never been just about producing code. at least for me and folks around me... a lot of the value comes from debugging, arch discussions, mistakes, tradeoffs. learning the system deeply enough to shape it yourself. if ai starts solving too much of that for us, we will lose some of the judgment and ownership that made work meaningful.

Anyhow I do not think the answer is to reject ai. It is way too useful for that... the question is how we use it without replacing the curiosity... craftsmanship... collaboration and mentoring that make good engineers, and good teams even better...

At the same time I do that my wishes will come true, the economics are against it. So, yea times have changed...

Everyone’s stressed, everyone’s worried about where they stand, and collaboration disappears the second pressure goes up. What happened to this place?

They spent 1000's of Dollars installing big screen TV's over all the departments in the Process Center to televise production information, but could never get it to work the way they wanted .... now the TV's are sitting idle and they have spent more money to hang dry erase boards in all departments and gone back to hand writing everything like we're back in the 80's!!

I love how my project team is in Houston India Manila and BA. How the F are we supposed to accomplish anything.

Layoffs can create significant safety risks for organizations. HR professionals are uniquely positioned to identify early warning signs in distressed employees. These signs often mirror predictors of su----e, linking workplace safety and employee wellness. Effective collaboration between HR and security is crucial to prevent escalation. Careful planning and empathy during termination meetings can mitigate potential dangers.

https://hrexecutive.com/when-layoffs-become-a-safety-risk-hr-is-the-first-line-of-defense/

New just in
Ty announced a giant reorg/struct after the recent LR's via Vidcast
Of course, Cisco is going all in on AI

Significant changes to Collab
How many years do you think we have until everyone is replaced with AI ?

Hey guys,

I had to post because the new elevator system that just rolled out with HMP is awesome. It creates even more chances to run into people from other teams and keeps that great collaborative energy going all day long.

Im all in on the open plan unassigned seating. The way it gets everyone mixing together, sparking real conversations and solving stuff on the fly has been a total game changer. Its made coming into the office genuinely fun and way more productive.
We should really accelerate the full HMP rollout and finally transition those last remaining private offices. Getting everyone out into the open would expand collaboration even more and help us become a true one team organization.

Leadership has been so smart and transparent about these workplace changes. You can see the vision is working and its helping us pull ahead of the competition.
This whole HMP direction just keeps delivering. Im more pumped about it every week.

Anyone else feeling the same? Would love to hear from the field and ops teams
especially. When you come into the office are you noticing how much easier it is to connect with people now?

Will Oxy pivot or concentrate on areas of strength or continue this bifurcated shyte show for ever…Oxy Greenway, Oxy Woodlands, Oxy International…when are all parties collaborating and when will Oxy have the courage to divest assets that no longer make sense

I've seen post on here dissecting and criticizing some of the collabs Nike has at the moment. Some of which has been relatively successful, like the Travis Scott collab. I haven't seen anyone pick apart the Drake line tho. That may have been one of the worst investments by Nike.

Nocta has really been a lackluster for the Nike and considering how big of an artist Drake is, he's never been someone people looked to for style, like never. Definitely wasted opportunity there.

I’ve been loving the open-plan HMP setup and how much it’s boosted real collaboration, but I feel like we’re leaving some upside on the table. A lot of the private offices were only supposed to be temporary, yet plenty of people (especially in Subsurface and the old CTC groups) are still camped out in them long-term. It’s starting to feel like the last holdouts keeping us from going full one-team.

If we accelerated the rollout and moved everyone into the open plan, it would be a game changer. No more closed doors creating little silos. Just full visibility, spontaneous conversations, and everyone including our geologists and reservoir engineers ... mixing it up with the rest of the business every day. That kind of constant collaboration would help us move faster, share knowledge better, and really crush the competition.
Management has already shown they’re willing to make bold calls on workspace. Speeding this up and finally transitioning Subsurface out of those temporary offices would send a strong message and unlock even more of the culture and performance gains we’ve been seeing.

Chevrons heading in the right direction. Let’s finish what we started and make the open environment the standard everywhere. Anyone else think it’s time to push harder on this? Especially curious how the field and ops folks see it when you’re in the office. Would getting Subsurface fully into the open plan help with handoffs and alignment, or am I off base?

At AT&T, I’ve learned that sustained success is rarely built on individual effort alone. It comes from being connected to the company’s priorities, engaged with the people driving the work, and committed to moving in the same direction as the broader organization. For many employees who have grown their careers here, relocating closer to Dallas has marked an important step toward greater impact and opportunity.

My own path has required real personal tradeoffs. I stepped away from what was familiar, adapted to new expectations, and chose career growth and responsibility over convenience. Those choices were not simple, but they opened doors to stronger relationships, greater visibility, and more meaningful collaboration.

Dallas is more than the company’s headquarters. It is a place where strategy, execution, and leadership come together. Being closer to key decision-makers and cross-functional partners creates faster communication, stronger alignment, and a deeper sense of shared responsibility for serving our customers and supporting one another.

That proximity also has clear business value. When teams are more connected, barriers are reduced, decisions move faster, and execution becomes stronger. Over time, that kind of discipline and coordination helps improve performance, strengthens the organization, and supports long-term shareholder value.

For that reason, moving to Dallas should be viewed as more than a personal career move. It reflects a willingness to invest in the company’s future, contribute more fully to the team, and help build a more focused, unified, and effective AT&T.

We already had a culture of “every employee for himself” thanks to stack-ranking (based on dubious criteria) and other shenanigans.

Adding the constant threat of layoffs isn’t going to make people more collaborative and more willing to share information. You have to laugh at the ineptitude of whoever came up with this strategy! It’s like shooting yourself in the foot because it was hurting.

Click2Expert on steroids!

My team is in a different office, and I’m the only one at another site. With full-time RTO, how are people approaching this when it doesn’t impact team collaboration?

Open forum. What functions do you find relevant for moving to shared services?

Which functions and teams coild be ki-led around the world and why?

Share the wealth.

Sitting in AT&T's open office today. No assigned desks. Five day mandate. "Collaboration" is the official reason.
The reality: complete silence. Cold shoulders. Headphones. Everyone either annoyed or running on fumes. The only conversations happening are between people who already knew each other before they got here.

Forced proximity is not culture. It never was.

McElfresh posted about collaboration last week and got 403 likes from 130,000 employees. The open office told the truth he won't.

And for the person who always replies "see you on the commute" congratulations. You've perfectly summarized what AT&T calls culture.

Two hours of traffic. A hot desk with no name on it. Headphones in. Eyes down. And a COO posting about collaboration from a corner office while the rest of us perform presence for a badge reader.

This is what market-based culture looks like from the inside.

Come on splunk, get on Webex already…

TPM
Cons Mktplc Comm
SCPT
IDSA
CIS
MARTECH
FPE OBS
Distribution OB Transit
Product Inno & Design
DAI

We need another meeting

Why are CRG branch and market managers celebrating Finet recruits? Are they combining?

I'm really not trying to rant here, I'm actually asking. Does anyone feel productive when they come in? My office days are pure chaos. People talking about sports, playing on their phone, solving puzzles together. Random coworkers keep stopping by my desk to chat. I spend half my energy just trying to tune it all out so I can do my job. At home I get ten times the work done. How is any of this helping us collaborate?

GK wanting us to be a category 2 bank is the real reason for RTO and offshoring more and more.

Buildings give us more assets and offshoring more of a global footprint.

Research to learn more.

Not about collaboration, which we already knew.

Been thinking about this a lot lately. Going back to four days a week in the office with the open plan unassigned seating (HMP) has definitely brought some good energy. You run into folks from different teams, have those quick real-time conversations, and get problems solved faster than the endless email chains we had before. Its helped cut down on friction and made collaboration feel smoother.

That said, I keep noticing how our field teams run on a solid 5-day rhythm and it shows in their consistency and momentum. Maybe bringing the office side to a full 5 days could line everything up even better across the company. Wrapping the week strong with everyone in on Friday, plus the occasional half-day on Saturday when it makes sense, might give us that extra edge to stay ahead of the competition and feel more like one-team.

Chevrons culture already feels special, and pushing a bit more on the in-office side could make it even stronger. Its one of the reasons Im still optimistic about sticking around long-term.

Anyone else seeing similar things? Especially curious how the current 4-day setup is landing for field and ops folks. Are you noticing quicker decisions or better handoffs, or do you think more consistent office time would help?

No revelations yet, besides my expenses going up and feeling like they want to get rid of us. I haven't met new people, I haven't expanded collaboration beyond my usual circle (whom I communicate with online), and I most definitely haven't become more creative. I do focus less, and my productivity has fallen somewhat, so there's that.

Down 12% in two weeks.

But yeah… everything is fine. Just need a few more badge swipes and maybe another “collaboration zone” and we should be good.

Market must’ve missed the memo about culture being built in the office.

Do you know a good law firm/lawyer that has successfully challenged? Let's all help each other!!

We’re here to show up, stay aligned, and support Verizon and Frontier priorities, and we will continue doing that while maintaining BAU responsibilities.

That said, the current operating model is becoming highly inefficient due to significant duplication of effort. In many cases, it feels like multiple groups are running parallel versions of the same call, covering the same topics, and producing the same outputs independently rather than consolidating into a single streamlined effort.

From our perspective, this creates unnecessary repetition and makes it difficult to understand why workstreams are not being centralized or aligned into a single execution path. It also results in situations where multiple teams are effectively doing the same work in parallel rather than building once and scaling across groups.

We are also seeing limited alignment between operating approaches. Frontier teams bring established, proven ways of working that are efficient and well understood internally, but there does not currently appear to be a consistent mechanism to evaluate, adopt, or standardize those approaches across the broader Verizon-facing effort.

At the same time, we are being pulled between BAU responsibilities and multiple overlapping Verizon meetings, often without visibility into prioritization or coordination across groups. This creates conflicting expectations and makes it difficult to balance delivery without clearer structure.

We want to be clear—we are engaged and willing to support, but the current structure feels like “too many cooks in the kitchen,” and it’s not clear how decisions are being streamlined or who is accountable for reducing duplication and aligning execution.

We would appreciate clearer direction on meeting structure, decision ownership, and how leadership plans to consolidate parallel workstreams so teams can focus on execution rather than repetition, along with clearer prioritization across BAU and Verizon-led initiatives.

https://x.com/intel/status/2041501301318766866

I come into the office Mon-Thurs, just to log on to my computer and talk to people in Costa Rica and India.

I don't talk to anyone in the office with me.

Why do I need to be in the office for that?

Getting anything done across teams requires going through multiple people. Even simple requests turn into long chains of communication, and by the time something actually moves forward, the urgency is usually gone. Collaboration is way more complicated than it should be.

Return to office, a fresh new start,
A chance to reconnect, to share, to spark.
The hum of voices, ideas in flight,
Collisions of minds that just feel right.

No more the silence of screens alone,
But laughter and teamwork, fully grown.
Quick chats that turn into something more,
Innovation waiting behind each door.

Morning routines with purpose and pace,
Seeing determination on every face.
A shared momentum, a collective drive,
Where goals feel closer, ambitions thrive.

So here’s to the days we gather again,
Colleagues as more than names on a screen.
Together we build, create, and inspire
In the office glow, we rise even higher.

https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/ibm-announces-strategic-collaboration-arm-040100144.html

This is far more strategic than first appears as it gives Enterprise customers options while feeding IBM’s strategy of buying SW innovations.

1. It grows IBM’s Mainframe moat for the Fortune 500 - 1000 (expands the mainframe monopoly)
2. It opens up SW acquisition opportunities thus allowing IBM to expand its distribution model while also shrinking IBM’s legacy SW in house development model

What happened to this place? We used to collaborate, now it’s every team for itself. No one shares anything, everyone hoards information like it gives them an edge. Do people actually think that’s going to protect them or get them ahead? Is this seriously where we are now?

After riding out the usual industry cycles, one thing that keeps standing out is how the "We Lead" behaviors aren't just words on a slide deck. they actually shape how things get done day to day.

Even during last year's necessary adjustments, you could see it in action: leaders at every level stepping up with clear direction, owning outcomes, and keeping teams focused on what matters most. No panic, no mixed messages .. just steady, confident guidance that helped everyone stay aligned and move forward. It's the kind of strong leadership culture that turns tough moments into proof that the system works.
What's been especially noticeable since then is how things have sharpened and improved. The focus feels even tighter, collaboration is smoother, and there's a renewed energy around delivering results. Teams are moving faster with clearer priorities, and that consistent "We Lead" mindset: taking initiative, holding ourselves accountable, and supporting one another has really taken root in the day-to-day. It creates this quiet confidence and sense of shared purpose that makes the work feel more purposeful than ever.

Definitely one of the biggest reasons the Chevron culture feels special and worth staying for. Curious if others see the "We Lead" principles showing up the same way, especially in how the organization has come through stronger on the other side.