The full flex work model.

"Split your time between the office, a local co-working space located near your home, paid for by your employer in the same ways as a gym membership and your actual home"

I want to ask you a simple question. Which statement do you agree with more? 

1)        I really miss the office environment from both a professional and social aspect.

2)        I really value the extra time I have without a commute and the opportunity to spend more time with my family or pursuing hobbies. 

Left hand in the air if you agree with number 1?  Right hand in the air if you agree with statement 2? Both hands up if you agree with both statements?

I suspect there are a lot of people reading this with both hands in the air… as am I. It has to be said, I personally love being in the office. I love the atmosphere, the buzz everyone gets by achieving things together, the creativity that is spurred from bouncing ideas off each other. And of course, spur of the moment drinks on a sunny afternoon when you hit a target. 

However, I also can’t deny the fact that this period of time at home has provided me with some real gifts which I would never have otherwise received. The gift of additional time in the garden playing games with family. The reduced stress of not having to squeeze onto the central line and fight my way back off it at Bank station (if you know, you know).

It might be possible to have both…. Or to have our banana bread and eat it too as most of us have literally done in lockdown.

"This full flex model provides the option to build your own working week between the office HQ, local co-working spaces in residential areas and home"

It’s certainly possible in the coming months and years that central office HQ’s will reduce their footprint to a level which wouldn’t allow every member of their business to be in the office simultaneously, potentially with space for 50-75% of employees. Senior CEOs have recently reinforced this view suggesting in interviews that a reduced real estate footprint will be part of their post Covid strategy. 

What then, about the 25-50% of the workforce who cannot fit into the reduced office space? Traditionally, the remaining portion of this time might be spent working from home. But when we say “home”, is that what we really mean? Do we really mean we all want to work from our kitchen table or if we are lucky, a home office with the dog barking, the neighbours trimming the hedges and the postman ringing the doorbell. Or when we say home, do we mean an area in our home town within a walkable or cycle distance from our front door which provides an inspirational workspace. I think a lot us of us mean the latter.

"We can envisage a future with much more co-working space located close to traditionally residentially led areas rather than city centres, which until now have been the core focus of many co-working developers"

We can envisage a future with much more co-working space located close to traditionally residentially led areas rather than city centres, which until now have been the core focus of many co-working developers. This would mean a commute which represents a fraction of the time (and stress), a reserved desk and storage, great coffee and excellent facilities. In other words, the benefits of working from home combined with some of the benefits of working in an office.

Your pass for your chosen local co-working space would be paid for as a standard part of your remuneration package in the same way you might receive a gym membership. The additional cost to the employer compensated by the savings made by slightly downsizing their office HQ. 

This full flex model provides the option to build your own working week between HQ, local co-working space and your home. 

Aside from the personal benefits, this model could also have positive implications for local communities, in particular the beleaguered secondary shopping centre sector which, with investment could represent existing real estate for some of these neighbourhood co-working centres. We have already seen some such spaces, however the current situation will press fast forward on this trend. 

"It is difficult to replace the mentoring, coaching, creativity and connection which comes from having teams physically working together"

However, there are significant drawbacks to a significantly increased work from home culture. Firstly, it is difficult to replace the mentoring, coaching, creativity and connection which comes from having teams physically working together. 

We must not neglect the next generation of our industries. Whilst a greater degree of remote working is certainly possible for more experienced individuals, how can we expect to nurture and develop the next generation from afar. You might argue that some things can be taught remotely, and you would be right to an extent but ask yourself how much information and knowledge you soaked up, simply being around colleagues, hearing the way they speak, how they approach problems and how they deal with challenging situations. 

We must also acknowledge that working from your actual home, is different for different people. Some environments are much better suited than others. Asking someone who lives alone to work from their actual home might be unwittingly subjecting them to very real mental health challenges, with no-one there to identify if someone is feeling vulnerable and requires support. Equally, those who lived in shared house with their mates may not have the most productive working environment!

As the country prepares for a gradual return back to the office, we might conversely find that employers need to maintain or even grow their office footprint to comply with social or business distancing regulations.

For many reasons, I believe the office property will remain strong in the coming years. Many organisations require teams to be together and many will simply miss the way things used to be and aim to go back to that. However, there will be a portion that never go back to previous ways and it will be fascinating to see the resulting shifts in trends. 

Please note: The views in this article are entirely my own and may not reflect the views of any organisation I am associated with.