Home automation is the residential extension of building automation.
It is automation of the home, housework or household activity.
Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, security locks of gates and doors and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security.
Warning: Working with electricity can result in injury, property damage, or even death if it is not done properly. Please keep this in mind while assisting others. If you are not sure about what you are doing, hire a licensed professional.
Most of the Wireless led strips remotes work just fine for your purposes as long as the remote and receiver are close (ie. not hiding the receiver behind your monitor since most of them are RF)
Also, if you do not want to cause IT a headache, don't connect devices to the office wifi without their knowledge/approval.
Take a look at Ikea since they have lightbulbs with matching zigbee remotes.
It's Christmas season, head into target or Walmart and grab an outlet remote switch. They work on radio rather than ir so they will be responsive. Some are single, some have multiple in one remote. Some toggle and some have separate on/off buttons.
The cheap little remotes work fine and are responsive. One thing to note is they are susceptible to picking up other IR signals. For instance if I point a random remote at my led strip, it will change color, flash etc.
There are traffic lights that integrate with Skype and Teams for this purpose. I had this when I worked in a glass office, and people would stand outside my door and motion at me when I was on a call, or walk in and start talking.
https://www.amazon.com/Embrava-Blynclight-Standard/dp/B07FRX1DK4