Reimagining Office Life After COVID-19

Reimagining Office Life After COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic turned working life upside down, with many of us having to adapt quickly to the new work-from-home experiment. Organisations rose to the occasion, providing employees with everything they needed to successfully work remotely. As we move towards the ‘new normal’, employees are beginning to return to the office, but office life is not what it once was and is now a very different setting. This requires businesses to again think about what they can do to help support their staff through these changes. In this article, we will discuss the changing role of offices and why they are still important, and provide steps employers can take to reimagine their office after COVID-19.

The Changing Role of Offices

Offices were once a place where we worked five days a week from start to finish, with very few of us enjoying complete flexibility when it came to remote working. Since COVID-19, organisations have seen all the benefits of working from home, with a study from Talk Talk even highlighting an increase in productivity. This flexibility when it comes to where we choose to work has continued since offices have begun to open back up, which has changed the roles of the post-COVID office. Free from painful morning commutes and with more freedom to find the right work-life balance, many employees will choose to work from home rather than come into the office. There may no longer be a need for everyone to have a private space to work, and businesses will have to accommodate the potential changes to the office culture that once existed before the pandemic. The modern working life could see offices become a place for collaboration, where teams meet up once a week or employees go if they’re craving some social interaction.

While remote working seems to be a huge success, could this be because it was seen as temporary rather than permanent? Businesses need to recognise the potential impact on working culture and community and ensure the benefits of planned and unplanned collaboration, physical interaction and mentorship and talent development continue in the new look office life.

Why is the Office Important?

Even though the role of the office is changing, it is still important for employees to have a communal space where they can interact with colleagues, joke by the water cooler and collaborate when it comes to the likes of creative brainstorms. Without an office, face-to-face contact would diminish, and with it, social capital. Team bonding and network building are essential for developing a positive company culture that will help you attract the best talent and encourage your current employees to stick around. Offices are still seen as the heart and soul of a business, reflecting its brand and culture. This is important for potential hires, clients or business partners who want to learn more about what your company is all about. Despite the changes forced by the pandemic, businesses shouldn’t just abandon office life, and instead, should look to adapt to these changes by reimagining their space to support the needs of their workers.

Steps for Updating Your Office Culture

How organisations choose to reimagine their office space will vary depending on their company culture and the needs of the business. There is no right and wrong answer, it all depends on what talent is needed, which roles are important, the demand for collaboration, where offices are currently located and many more factors. Changes will require a lot of thought, but we recommend taking the following four steps to reimagine how work is done and what your office of the future may look like.

1. Collaboration is key

A typical office has a mix of private offices, shared desks and meeting rooms. Few are designed to support organisational priorities, but this might require a rethink in a post-COVID-19 world. Businesses should look to create workspaces specifically designed to support the kind of interactions that cannot happen remotely. For example, if collaboration and team meetings are now the primary use for the office, consider opening more creative spaces for group meetings and brainstorms. With many employees choosing to work from home, it’s unlikely that all desk spaces will be filled. Consider introducing a hot desking area where people who prefer to go into the office can sit and socialise together. This could be a great way to encourage interaction between departments and break away from an old fashioned ‘seating plan’ system. With less time being spent together in the office, it's important organisations find a way to recapture collaboration and social capital when reimagining the office after the pandemic.

2. ‘People to work’ or ‘work to people’

Employees should look at the different roles within the organisation and make decisions about which roles can be carried out at home and what must be done in person. Roles can be classified by:

  • Fully remote
  • Hybridge remote
  • Hybrid remote by exception
  • On site

For the top two roles, businesses can begin to consider broadening the pool of available talent to new geographical locations. Employees may want to live in cities with a lower cost of living or proximity to family and places they love, while they still work for a leading company in their field. This approach could be beneficial for both employer and employee. For the other two roles, leadership can begin to consider how the office can be tailored to help support employees working in those positions to help improve morale and productivity. If some members of the company can work from home and others can’t, consider introducing a more flexible office schedule so everyone can find an improved work-life balance.

3. Rise in technology

Remote working through the pandemic has relied heavily on the likes of Teams, online workspaces and other technologies in order for teams to collaborate and work together as they did before the pandemic. This is only going to become more important as some employees return to the office and others prefer to work from home. The barriers between being physically in the office and out of the office must be overcome. It’s going to be difficult for employees remote working to be as involved in meetings if they’re watching from a laptop screen as others communicate face-to-face.

Meeting rooms and creative spaces should consider the fact that some employees may decide to choose to join virtually, and technology is the key to ensuring teams can collaborate effectively. Seamless in-person and remote collaboration spaces (such as virtual whiteboards), and asynchronous collaboration and working models will quickly shift from futuristic concepts to standard requirement. Big screens, a camera and speakers could help employees who dial in interact with the whole room and be heard should they want to contribute.   

4. Change in location

We have mentioned that employers can consider hiring from a wider talent pool now geographical location is less of an issue. This is also the case for office locations. Companies can take a fresh look at how much and where space is required, as it’s likely fewer people will be using the office. It’s worth considering how the new office can foster desired outcomes for collaboration, productivity, culture and the work experience. Some companies may continue to have their offices in big cities, but with this less essential for attracting young talent, others could choose to open suburban workspaces. These changes create an opportunity for savings on rent, capital costs, facilities operations, maintenance, management and more. It’s worth leadership teams considering whether a change in location could benefit their business in a world where remote working is fast becoming the norm.

Like we said, there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. We hope our advice helps organisations understand the changing role of the office and the value it can still bring to people at all levels of the business. Our recommendations will help you reimagine your office space to meet the post-pandemic requirements of both employees and the business. Employers must act now to ensure that when they return, workplaces are both productive and safe.