By 2025, the debate surrounding return-to-office policies has evolved, with hybrid work models becoming prevalent and companies facing challenges in making distributed work effective. The focus has shifted from simply deciding between remote or in-office work to optimizing distributed work environments for productivity and employee satisfaction. Research shows that strict return-to-office mandates can lead to higher turnover and do not necessarily enhance productivity. The productivity of engineering teams, in particular, is influenced by factors such as effective communication, cognitive load management, and maintaining a flow state, rather than physical proximity. Distributed work poses unique challenges like context fragmentation and knowledge silos, especially in debugging complex systems, which require advanced tooling and better infrastructure to address. Companies that succeed in this new landscape are those that prioritize flexibility and support systems, allowing engineers to work optimally regardless of location. This means investing in tools that facilitate asynchronous collaboration and comprehensive system visibility, acknowledging that distributed work is integral to modern organizational success.