Has working from home made us miss the office?

The future workplace is a topic which frequently draws discussion, and over the past two weeks the concept of the workplace has drastically changed for a lot of people. Working from home has always drawn debate, with different stances between organisations and limitations to which roles can effectively do their jobs remotely.

There are huge challenges to both businesses and individuals during this unprecedented time and this has seen attitudes towards the workplace undergo remarkable change. Our new landscape has been forced upon us and it is undoubtedly impacting people in very different ways. I’m speaking to experts from all areas of the industry to ask their opinions on what this means for the workplace. This week I spoke to Hannah Nardini, Workplace Strategist at WKspace to get her views on working from home.

How are you personally dealing with working from home?

Thankfully, I have a separate office in my garden, so it feels like I am still going to work. I have been working from home for many years now and have learnt that keeping a routine is vitally important to me. I am happy working from home as I feel I can work at my best potential without distractions and stresses.

Do you think people find working from home better than going to the office?

I think this depends a lot on your personality type. If you display more introverted characteristics, you are likely to thrive in your own space for longer periods of time. Extroverts on the other hand, thrive on more social interaction and it is likely they will be feeling the impact of enforced working from home more. We all have a need to be around people ultimately so there will come a tipping point where people will be missing their workplace and colleagues.

Are we still going to need physical offices if people can prove they can work effectively from home?

Yes, I believe there is still an important sense of belonging that comes from working with others in an office. But I do feel that it calls out those companies or teams that have been telling us for years that there is no way they can either let their people work from home or their role/technology prevents it. All of a sudden, companies have had to find a way, and this is an important lesson we can learn from. With this new opportunity, I feel it will make companies think carefully about how much space they do actually need as well as ensuring the technology they use is optimised for remote working.

Are you noticing any new behaviours or requirements in people in the last few weeks which haven’t emerged in your studies before?

I have seen a shift in some people’s perspectives. The long working hours and days away from families and homes has been reversed. The commercialised aspect of life has suddenly been replaced by the simple things we need to survive and thrive. I believe people will want to focus on work/life balance and wellbeing in future.

The future workplace is a topic that is frequently discussed – does this mass working from home experience radically change what we thought the future workplace looks like?

Without a doubt. We have been promoting flexible working and activity based working methodologies to our clients for years. I have found these companies have transitioned to this new situation with more ease that others and they were already working in this way to some extent. For all companies though, there is a need to learn from this and make decisions on how we can maximise space efficiency, create better work life balance, focus on employee wellbeing and provide opportunities for social interaction.