Unless you're in construction, healthcare or restaurants, you probably haven't had a lot of face to face time in the past 16 months. You're excited about the rumors and maybe even memos about the new normal - a permanent 60/40 split! You have a perfectly good headset. So why should you invest in your microphone?
I get it, the headsets were all recommended by people, including me! Those first days are long gone, and our ears rubbed raw from those fleeping masks. No one wants to wear a headset.
No one wants to hear your horrible audio either.
In the height of the pandemic, people tolerated it, because most were in the same position. Lots of "can you hear me" might have frayed the relationships in your teams.
Hopefully you've used this time to bolster and strengthen those connections within your teams, perhaps even following the process outlined in the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team.
If not, those first few days are going to be painful. Scared, darting eyes and whispers kind of painful. Everyone making sure they look REALLY busy!
And when it's your turn to be 40% remote? You're going to have to work extra hard to get the absolute best from your team then.
Bad audio just makes it extra hard to hear you - which gives a good reason to ignore you.
You better get them trusting you now.
Invest in the Yeti. Use it to tell them a funny story that relates to what they're going through. Guide and lead, but don't direct. It's more valuable than you think in developing others.