Asher's Blog

I have a mentor who has been telling me for over a year now that I, and my team, should work from the office. At first, I listened politely, nodded, and moved on, but somewhere along the line, the message started to sink in.

While I was in the UK, something interesting happened. One morning, almost impulsively, I decided to get an office space. The thought came suddenly: how distracted I was, working from home, and how much more effective I could be if I had a dedicated place to work. I started browsing shared workspaces, found one I liked, and told my wife I was going to check out an office space. She was surprised because we hadn’t discussed anything remotely close to that. I think she assumed I would look around, come back, and then we’d talk about routines and logistics.

But… I got there, loved it, picked a desk, paid, and started immediately. Typical me. Thankfully, I have an incredibly understanding wife.

Working from the office again, after a long stretch, made me extremely productive. I was focused, there were fewer distractions, and because it only took me about 10–15 minutes to drive there, my routine became predictable and easy to maintain. The space was open 24/7, so I worked all the way until the 24th of December and resumed again on the 27th. I genuinely loved it.

Interestingly, a few weeks before I got the UK office, we had already decided to return to working from the office in Nigeria. We were actively searching for a space, and looking back now, I think that decision subconsciously pushed me to try the same thing in the UK, especially since we’re also expanding there.

The WFH versus WFO conversation has been an interesting one. I’ve argued for WFH in the past, especially on the basis that flexibility helps attract great talent. But the argument that resonates most with me, particularly in Lagos, is traffic. Lagos traffic is brutal, and it directly eats into productivity. It’s not uncommon for someone to spend 1.5 hours commuting to work and another 2 hours getting back home, every single day. That’s not sustainable. Personally, I would break down under that routine.

Every time I’ve had to work from an office, I’ve moved closer. After my first job post-college, I initially spent about three hours daily commuting, until I relocated and reduced it to 20 minutes. In my second job, I lived five minutes from the office. Today, because our Lagos office is about 1.5 hours away from my home, I stay with family or friends during the week so I can be just 12–15 minutes away. My productivity matters too much to compromise on that.

So for me, this is the only legitimate argument against WFO in Lagos specifically, it’s the commuting pain. And because of that, we’ve had to build intentional solutions to reduce or eliminate long-distance commuting. If we were operating in cities without this level of traffic, we would very clearly be a full work-from-office company.

The argument that WFO limits access to top talent doesn’t fully convince me. It’s not an absolute truth. Banks, most financial institutions, and companies like X, Meta, Amazon, and Netflix largely operate from the office and make it a take-it-or-leave-it reality. Yes, there’s flexibility for some senior or highly specialised roles, especially in AI, but the general direction is clear: work from office is back as the default.

There’s something WFO gives you that WFH simply can’t replicate. Things get done faster, much faster. Mentoring junior hires happens more naturally. You spot excellence and mediocrity earlier, Culture forms quicker, Feedback loops tighten, and Alignment improves greatly.

For now, we’ve settled on a hybrid model: three days in the office and two days working from home. We stay flexible where it makes sense, depending on OKRs and growth patterns across teams. But we’re also clear, if a potential hire cannot commit to being in the office at least three days a week, we don’t continue the conversation.

Everyone will have their own perspective on this, shaped by context and experience.

I wish you well with yours.