In Person, Natalia Emanuel, PhD
In Person, Natalia Emanuel, PhD
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In Person
How Working Together Fuels Creativity, Productivity, and Growth

Author: Natalia Emanuel, PhD, Emma Harrington, PhD

Narrator: Natalia Emanuel, PhD

Unabridged: TBD

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/13/2026


Synopsis

“Essential reading for anyone who leads a company or team today.”—Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and author of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

“Deftly written . . . persuasive.”—Robert D. Putnam, Professor Emeritus, Harvard Kennedy School and author of Bowling Alone

Finally, the science-backed guide to making the most of in-person work—whether it’s one day in the office or five—with authors’ original research as featured in Science, NPR, CBS News, and more.

For the first time in history, millions of workers can do their jobs from anywhere—and the result is the most contentious workplace debate in generations. Employees fight to protect their freedom. CEOs issue return-to-office mandates by gut instinct. Everyone argues, but no one has the data. Until now.

Harvard-trained economists Natalia Emanuel and Emma Harrington are leading researchers on remote and in-person work. They've spent years tracking millions of work hours across industries, analyzing Fortune 500 companies, startups, tech companies, and call centers. Their findings? Remote work is good for crossing tasks off a to-do list, but it erodes the quality of our work, stifles creativity, and hurts mental health. When we're together, our brain-to-brain synchrony increases 10x, accelerating creativity, mentorship, and innovation. That’s why Pixar animators, Nobel Prize winners, and Silicon Valley founders have come up with their best ideas face-to-face with one another.

Working side-by-side can be a powerful force to supercharge company performance. But many office policies miss this mark, focusing on butts in seats, instead of brains in sync. Emanuel and Harrington offer solutions on how to craft the right policy. Backed with the latest research on the science of work, In Person offers tactical steps to make the most of in-office time, covering:

How to calculate the right number of on-site days for your specific organizationThe playbook for preserving employee flexibility without losing the power of being togetherWhy some RTO mandates fail spectacularly–and how to succeed
After years of confusion, animosity, and conflicting mandates, In Person finally delivers the answers in a clear, evidence-based roadmap for making smarter decisions with your most valuable resource: your people.

About The Author

Emma Harrington and Natalia Emanuel received their PhDs in economics at Harvard, and both completed postdocs at Princeton. Natalia is a research economist at the NY Federal Reserve Bank, and Emma a professor of economics at the University of Virginia. Their work has been published in top journals including Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, and American Economic Journals. Their research has been featured in the BBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Atlantic’s Good On Paper podcast, and NPR’s PlanetMoney, among others.


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Quotes

“This is a crucial book for this moment. A creative and innovative culture requires real connectivity, serendipitous encounters, mentorship, and face-to-face interactions. Especially as we enter an era of AI, when emotional connections will become even more valuable, we need this clarion call to get back to working in person.”—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs and The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

“A powerful and vivid demonstration of the importance of proximity, with valuable lessons about work, connection, and the human species. Don’t miss it.”—Cass R. Sunstein, Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard University, and New York Times bestselling author of Nudge

“At a time when organizations are still redefining what work looks like, In Person offers an important and thoughtful examination of the power of human connection in driving learning, innovation, trust, and performance. This is a timely and valuable read for any leader navigating the future of work.”—Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., president and CEO, SHRM

“The debate over where we work—in the office or remotely—has generated far more heat than light. Into that gap step Emanuel and Harrington, who rigorously assess the evidence wherever it leads and in its full complexity. Their finding that remote work can quietly degrade quality deserves attention, as do their well-founded recommendations for how to design and implement hybrid work effectively.”—Peter R. Orszag, PhD, CEO and chairman of Lazard

In Person is essential reading for anyone who leads a company or a team today. This is the first book on remote work to bring systematic research to answer the question of when being face to face matters most—and when it doesn’t.”—Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and author of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

“This deftly written book combines hard science and persuasive anecdotes drawn from many case studies to offer well-informed practical advice.”—Robert D. Putnam, Professor emeritus, Harvard Kennedy School and author of Bowling Alone

“For those with Zoom fatigue, tired of virtual hugs, In Person will be your bestie. It is an engaging volume packed with facts and a must-read for our hybrid world. The most important things in life cannot be done at a distance. Discover why.”—Claudia Goldin, Nobel laureate, author Career and Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity and expert advisor to the WNBA Players’ Association

“Emanuel and Harrington have written the definitive book on working from home. It distills a mountain of cutting-edge research into a sparkling, concise narrative. Every business leader who is pondering the new world of remote work should read this book. Every worker who has to make choices about working at home should read this book.”—Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University and New York Times bestselling author of Triumph of the City