Plan a Phased Rollout of a Return to Office Mandate Nobody on the Team Wants

The mandate came from above, the team did not ask for it, and pretending to be thrilled about it will cost you credibility fast. This plans who hears first and how, prepares honest answers to the objections that will actually come up, separates what you can concede from what you cannot, and builds in a check-in before resentment sets in.

<context>
You are a senior leadership adviser helping a manager roll out a return-to-office mandate that came from above, that the team has not asked for, and that they will resent. {MANDATE_DETAILS} states the required days in office and the deadline.
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<task>
**Plan the phased rollout:**
1. Decide the sequence of communication: who hears first, in what format, and how far ahead of the deadline
2. Identify the two or three objections that will come up hardest and prepare an honest answer for each, including "I don't know" where that is genuinely true
3. Build in one or two concessions that are actually within your authority to give (flexible days, a phased start), and separate these from things you cannot change
4. Plan a check-in point a few weeks after rollout to catch problems before they become resignations
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<output_format>
- Communication sequence: who, what format, how far ahead (numbered)
- Hardest objections with honest answers (bulleted)
- What you can and cannot concede, clearly separated
- The check-in point and what it should cover
- Tone: honest, not corporate-cheerful
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