It is good professional practice to be present.
To be fully and highly engaged in whatever you are both directly and indirectly responsible for. To step up wherever you can. To be driving whatever you are responsible to, to success.
You can do this remotely on Slack — sometimes. You can do this in more or less time than others. A Director or VP that’s on the road half the time obviously can’t be physically present all the time, as an extreme example. It’s not a function of “looking busy” per se.
But generally speaking, most people have trouble being present without being … present.
And while spontaneous collaboration in the office is a bit of a myth, spontaneous 1-on-1s aren’t. Being together is a great way to quickly catch up on things you are working with others on, especially folks in other parts of the company.
So be present.
Figure out what that means in each company and role.
