New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- A 24-year-old walked into his office space. It was 4pm. He was expected to work from the employer's headquarters in Mumbai, four days a week. He latched onto snippets of gossip from the few colleagues he spotted, did the bare minimum required of him, and left at 7pm. In between coffee breaks, he met the boss and exchanged some notes. His team members were not around. They had come in earlier in the day and left by 4pm.

Now, you cannot blame anyone. The team followed the office diktat of coming to work on scheduled days. The company wanted employees working at their work-stations, with minimal water-cooler chats. Alas, it got 'coffee badgers' instead.

'Coffee badging' is a post-work-from-home phenomenon. The archety...