Rob Sadow co-founded Scoop, the hybrid work management platform that helps companies coordinate when teams come together in person. His company tracks the working patterns of thousands of companies, giving him a unique vantage point on how work culture is evolving.
His perspective is grounded in data, not ideology. He's not a "return to office" evangelist or a "remote forever" advocate. He's watching what actually works - and the patterns are clear.
The Data on In-Person Time
Scoop's Flex Index tracks the workplace policies of 9,000+ companies. The trend Rob highlights: the companies that are winning the talent war aren't the ones mandating five days in office or offering fully remote. They're the ones who are intentional about when and why people come together.
The key finding: employees want flexibility in their daily work, but they crave structured in-person time for relationship-building, collaboration, and strategic alignment. It's not about the number of office days - it's about the quality of time spent together.
Why Offsites Are Replacing Office Days
Rob sees a fundamental shift happening: the office is being unbundled. The functions that used to require a shared physical space - collaboration, culture-building, mentorship, strategic planning - are being separated from the functions that don't (focused individual work).
The result: companies are investing less in daily office space and more in periodic, high-impact gatherings. Company retreats, team offsites, and quarterly in-person sprints are replacing the casual office interactions that used to happen by default.
"The future of work isn't about where you work on a Tuesday," Rob explains. "It's about how you create the moments that matter."
What the Best Companies Do Differently
From Scoop's data across thousands of companies, Rob identifies three patterns that distinguish the most effective hybrid cultures:
1. They Schedule Connection, Not Just Work
The most common mistake: companies bring people together physically but fill the time with work they could do from anywhere. A meeting that could be a Zoom call doesn't become more valuable just because it happens in a conference room.
The best companies use in-person time for what it's uniquely good for: building relationships, having difficult conversations face-to-face, brainstorming collaboratively, and creating shared experiences. Everything else stays remote.
2. They Invest in Cadence Over Intensity
One lavish annual retreat doesn't substitute for regular in-person touchpoints. Rob's data shows that teams gathering quarterly maintain significantly higher engagement and trust than those meeting annually. The format can be simple - two days, a good venue, unstructured social time, and a few focused work sessions. Consistency is what compounds.
3. They Treat Gathering as Strategy, Not Perks
In the best companies, the offsite budget isn't in the "perks" category. It's in the "operational effectiveness" category. Leadership teams plan offsites with the same rigor they apply to product launches or sales strategies - because the ROI is comparable. Teams that build strong in-person bonds collaborate faster, resolve conflicts more efficiently, and retain talent at higher rates.
The Implication for Your Team
If Rob's data tells us anything, it's this: the question isn't whether to invest in in-person time. It's how to make that time count.
The companies that figure this out - that move from accidental in-person time (an office policy) to intentional in-person time (designed gatherings with clear purposes) - will have a significant advantage in engagement, retention, and performance.
This conversation was part of the Marco Labs series on the future of work culture and team connection.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Scoop and how did it change work culture?
Scoop is a workplace flexibility platform that helps companies coordinate hybrid work schedules. Founded by Rob Sadow, it provides data-driven insights into how employees use office space, helping companies optimize their hybrid policies.
What does the data say about hybrid work in 2026?
Hybrid work has stabilized as the dominant model for knowledge workers. Companies averaging 2-3 days per week in-office tend to see the highest employee satisfaction and retention. Fully remote and fully in-office models both show higher turnover.
How do in-person retreats fit into a hybrid work strategy?
Retreats serve as the high-intensity complement to regular hybrid schedules. While weekly office days maintain workflow, quarterly or semi-annual retreats create the deep connection and strategic alignment that regular touchpoints cannot achieve.
What is the right cadence for bringing hybrid teams together?
Most successful hybrid companies use a layered approach: 2-3 days per week in-office for local teams, monthly team dinners, quarterly off-site working sessions, and an annual all-company retreat.