Is there a future for the traditional office space?

Each time I listen to a construction-related presentation or discussion I’m always looking out for the odd moment when the topic shifts from buildings to people. Today’s online panel discussion, hosted by engineering design consultancy Hydrock, truly delivered because the theme was the future of the office workspace – and the debate was rich when it comes to the psychology of work.

A few highlights for me:

Will Lewis, Founding Director of OBI Property, observed how exhausting it feels to have a day of video calls. Oddly enough, it seems that face-to-face encounters invigorate us (we essentially draw energy from the room) whereas back-to-back video calls do the opposite.

In fact ‘Zoom fatigue’ is now a thing (I wrote a piece about this recently) and Jessica Bowles (Strategy Director at Bruntwood) echoed a point made by behavioural psychologists that we’ve lost that separation that comes from moving from one activity to the next.

These normally take place in different locations, with the intermediate journey allowing us to reflect, decompress and prepare mentally for the next encounter.

This is called ‘context-resetting’ and when all our activities are housed in one place (home) and experienced through one device (a laptop), it can be exhausting and anxiety-inducing.

Still in his 20’s, Oliver Meyers, Founding Partner, RE-defined reminded us of the need for inter-generational learning, and how that works well in the physical workplace. Informal coaching and mentoring takes place on the hoof, with unplanned interactions providing rich learning (both ways). If the bulk of your encounters are pre-planned via video call, those impromptu conversations are largely lost.

Jessica also considered the equalising nature of the office when compared with the home environment. Many employees, forced into home working, may not have the space or circumstances enjoyed by more senior staff to function effectively – not to mention the ‘judgment’ we all make on the books, videos, artwork and décor behind their head!

As always, the session was in the expert hands of facilitator Stewart Grant. I think of him as the Graham Norton of the construction sector, a skilled interviewer who gets the best from the guest!

I’ve not highlighted everyone on today’s call but each panellist (also including Helen Nicol, Director, tp bennett and John McElwee, Divisional Director, Hydrock) delivered valuable insight into this most demanding and fascinating period of our lives.

Perhaps our biggest challenge now is to maintain a sense of cohesion amongst our employees, the glue that binds everyone behind a single purpose and values their contribution (from whichever location it comes).

I leave you with this...

Andrew Thorp is a coach, trainer and consultant in the field of business communication. He works with companies both large and small; his mission is to help leaders become more confident and persuasive speakers and to humanise and 'storify' business communication.

Twitter @andrewthorp

Email: [email protected]