War-game a hybrid desk policy by proving each floor class has a named owner, a measured exception window, and a reverse path before the calendar starts governing every desk claim.
Hybrid desk policies fail when "in office" means a status without a decision artifact, when teams dual-count a draft exception as both approved and live, and when high-risk floor paths still pin to one thin roster because the map is incomplete. The review needs one written inventory of floor classes, one owner who can deny a risky shortcut, and a documented consequence when a failed exception ages past the deadline.
Freeze the desk scenario
State the policy scope, the effective date, which floors are protected, how exceptions work, and what happens to desk bookings already in flight. Name the teams that feel it first and the customer commitments that depend on on-site coverage. If the memo mixes a desk policy with a lease renewal and a travel cut, split them. A war game needs one move under fire at a time.
Write the decision you will make if the war game finds nothing new. Also write the reverse criteria: the occupancy miss, coverage gap, or safety deadline that would force a policy release within a stated window.
Seats that matter
- Workplace ops. Badge timing, desk math, and what the occupancy forecast hides if attendance softens after the policy.
- People ops. Hiring risk, manager load, and the first ninety days of thinner on-site coverage.
- Facilities and legal. Which lease promises break in process, access risk, and relationship damage with landlords.
- Finance. Lease cost risk, dual-counted desk savings, and the message that would leave utilization claims open past lock.
- Skeptic. The claim that looks strongest and is least sourced.
Attach the same source pack to every seat: open bookings, exceptions in flight, protected floors, coverage commitments, and the exception policy you actually intend to use. Secret data for one seat creates fake agreement.
Loop the review
Feed Pingpong the policy memo, the desk exhibits, and the seating briefs. First pass steelmans the policy. Later passes attack from workplace ops, people, facilities, and finance seats. Final pass turns surviving objections into phased desk rules, mitigations, or a changed recommendation. Agreement across passes is not proof. Keep the objections that still have evidence gaps.
Pair with the workplace ops lead seat, an office lease renewal stress test, a travel policy cut review, and the people ops lead seat. More operating decisions live in the war-game decisions hub.
Ship the policy only when approved and blocked labels can be reproduced from stored exports without a verbal override.