We opened micro-offices to bring remote workers back. Here’s how it’s become key

Eighty-three percent of CEOs are expecting employees to be full-time in the office in the coming years, so it’s important to reflect on where we are putting these offices. While there is certainly a high concentration of talent in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, the winning model for leaders asking their teams to come back in to work is going to be networks of micro-offices located in cities with high quality of life and a lower cost of living.

The formula for finding your micro-office

There are many factors to consider where you locate a micro-office including the cost of living, public transportation scores, school quality, and weather. And while these are all important tenets, the real driver behind where we have located our micro-offices is the people. Here is the formula that we used to build our team of now 2,000 employees and 16 global offices:

A strong market for talent: Looking at population and demographic trends, people are increasingly moving from large urban centers to small or midsized cities. Looking at these fast-growing cities more closely, we’ve found that areas with multiple universities are a sweet spot. Places like Scottsdale, Austin, and Salt Lake City have ambitious graduates eager to join fast-growing startups.

Lifestyle and culture: Places with vibrant culture—the arts, community groups, food scene—as well as climate, access to the outdoors, good transit options, and importantly, affordable housing options, all contribute to the quality of life that makes a location attractive for putting down roots. That applies to where great talent wants to be and it’s important to factor in when opening a new office.

An inspiring leader: This is the most critical component and deciding factor for whether or not we invest in building an office. Whether you scout out locally to find a dedicated leader who has established roots in the community or send a leader from your HQ who can build and shape a new team, finding leaders who embody your organization’s culture will ultimately shape the success of each office.

Building your micro-office culture

Once you’ve selected a location and hired a leader, making your micro-office thrive is all about building an amazing employee experience. There are three key ways that we ensure that all of our new hires in micro-offices build and add to our company’s ethos.

Physical space: Every city is unique, and the physical spaces should reflect them. For instance, in Salt Lake City, our team uses skis to mark sales milestones, while in Austin, we have customized guitars. These details play a significant role in making the office feel part of the company while allowing employees the freedom to shape the culture.

Decentralized perks and initiatives: Whether you’re a global company or just opening your second location, it’s important to give new teams the autonomy to build their own rituals and culture. One initiative that we’ve rolled out globally that helps our micro-offices to do this is our “3-3-3” program. No matter where you live, after 3 o’clock local time, three or more Verkada colleagues can spend $30 on food, sweet treats, or drinks within walking distance of the office. Employees at every office are empowered to foster connections and support the local community—and do it in ways that work best for their teams.

Friendly competition and rivalry: With a network of many offices that have their own subcultures, we’ve seen fun rivalries form. Not just from hitting sales metrics, but also from casual community building like company-wide Olympics and ping-pong tournaments. We even flew the winners of each office ping-pong tournament to HQ for a championship round!

Ultimately, we’ve seen that our micro-offices have strengthened our business in ways that we didn’t expect. With leaders and teams spread out across the country and world, we’ve benefitted from more voices and perspectives in the room that push us to think outside of the Silicon Valley “bubble” where we started.